God is doing a new work in our lives.

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Some people create a bucket list of things they want to do before they die. I have a bucket list for each year. I began making a yearly bucket list in 2016 and only accomplished one item out of my list of five that year. Visiting the Coquille River Lighthouse was that one thing.

Coquille River Lighthouse, Bandon, Oregon

A great deal of money was waiting for those who harvested timber upstream on the Coquille River, but the river’s mouth made access to that timber difficult. The U.S. government built a jetty on the south side of the river to make the river navigable. Construction on the lighthouse then began in 1895. And the Fourth Order Fresnel lens cast its light for the first time on February 29, 1896.

Like many of the lighthouses on the Oregon Coast, the Coquille River Lighthouse had a short life as it was decommissioned by the Coast Guard in 1939 after which the lighthouse fell into disrepair. The lighthouse was restored in 1979 and now stands as monument to its former glory.

God is in the business of taking our broken, abandoned lives and making us into something new.

“And the one seated on the throne said, ‘Listen to me! I’m making all things new.’ And he said, ‘Write this down for these words are trustworthy and true.'” 
Revelation 21:5

In the same way that the Bandon, Oregon community restored this lighthouse, God is restoring us. The rust will return to our lives as it has on the lighthouse, yet God reminds us of the riches he has poured out on our lives in his Son Jesus. These riches are new every morning.

I’ve used this passage with members of Holy Cross who are homebound. Their lives are changing with the aging process. How is God doing a new work in these people whose lives are filled with pain?

Paul uses different words for what John experienced in his revelation.

“Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” 
2 Corinthians 4:16 English Standard Version

Even though our bodies struggles with aging, God is doing a new work in us day after day after day. May you experience this newness from God as you await the day when all things will forever be made new.

Text and Picture Copyright Douglas P Brauner