I know not what of good or ill may be reserved for me, of weary ways or golden days before His face I see
But I know whom have believed, that He is able to keep what I’ve committed to Him until that day.
Daniel Webster Whittle
Author: Carol Purves
A blessed and healthy 2023 to all my readers.
Light in Darkness
As we read in Genesis God created the world to be light. When sin entered, darkness came. The darkness persisted until Jesus came to be the Light of the World. Because we are His followers, we too can shine this light.
Darkness itself is not evil, but without light we can’t find our way. Christmas tells us that Jesus can dwell in the places of darkness, to make it light. God is there everywhere to make the dark places light.
The season of Advent is the time to look forward to the coming of our Saviour; it is a time to have hope. We know that God will shine in the difficult places in our lives.
Fake News
At the present time there is an abundance of fake news. I’ve read about anti-holocaust protesters who claim it never happened. The Manchester bombing was only a publicity stunt; it never happened. Just ask the grieving parents! Donald Trump never lost the presidential election; it was fixed.
Back in the time of Jesus, Pilate asked ‘What is truth?’, which is a question we too may be asking. Everything around us is on shaky ground, but let us build on the rock which cannot be moved. There is nothing fake about Jesus. ‘O Thou, who changes not, Abide with me.’
Trustworthy Car
I’ve just had my car serviced, an expensive business. Now I have the assurance it is running safely and will not break down. Along with the invoice was a description of the work that had been done. It sounded like a foreign language to me – noisy drive belts, clutch transmission operation, OFS lower arm. Fortunately this all makes sense to my mechanic. He understands everything about maintaining the good performance of the car.
This is like my relationship with God. There are many things I don’t understand about the Christian life – why do good people suffer? when will I die? why does it seem that my prayers are not always answered? God knows the answers to these and many other queries. My task is to trust Him to reveal more of Himself as He deems it necessary.
Asleep on a Cushion
To sleep on a cushion in a gently rocking boat is my idea of perfect bliss. I imagine being in a boat on the river at Cambridge, someone else doing the punting. As Jesus slept on the lake with His disciples the tranquility was suddenly broken. A squally storm rapidly arose. At one moment my human Lord was asleep on the cushion and the very next He was commanding the waves to be calm. My Lord was human as He wept at the graveside of Lazarus, but He was divine as He healed the blind man.
Because Jesus is human He understand my failings and sin; His divinity means He has the power to save me from the punishment of these same sins.
Don’t You Care?
Jesus and the disciples were on the lake when a severe storm blew up. He was asleep in the stern. Anxiety and fear made the men cry out, ‘don’t You care if we drown?’ How could Jesus possibly be sleeping in such danger? They needed their Lord awake and acting.
Is this not a cry that we sometimes make? Everything around us is collapsing. Danger, real and imminent, is everywhere. Surely now is the time for God to act. We admit that we need His help but where is it?
The answer is that He is in the boat with us. He is working our His divine plan, which is not necessarily what we expect or think we need. We all know the story of the footprints in the sand. When life is most fraught there is only one set of prints. God is carrying us in His arms. He feels our pain, He weeps tears with us and suffers our anguish. But He does even more. He, who flung the stars into place and controls the raging torrents, has the power to act in our best interests.
Muck
I’m drawn once again to the parable of the Prodigal Son. After a particularly useful study with friends on the story I’m struck by the terrible state of this errant man. He had been forced to take on a job of feeding pigs in a foreign country. The dreadful thing it was ‘pigs’. Any other animal would have been acceptable Pig were considered as unclean animals to the Jews.
When he decided to return home he would have been unshaven, straggly-haired and unclean. When one is starving there is no thought or provision for cleanliness. Having travelled across the desert for maybe a couple of days he would also have been dirt-stained and sweaty. This was the body that the father embraced. Muck from the son was transferred onto the father.
As the message of the story is that God represents the father and we sin-filled people are the son, it indicates that all our filth and dirt is transferred to God as He embraces us. We ate clean at a tremendous cost.
On our Knees
Volunteering on the hospital chaplaincy table is not always a serious affair. On the table is my tin of sweets, which attracted a little six year old girl walking by with her mother. Because children are too small to be able to see the sweets when the tin is on the table, I lifted it down to her level. For some reason she decided to kneel while making her choice (never a quick procedure!) I therefore had to sit on the floor of the atrium while this was happening. I’m not sure what the moral is here, but if a photo was taken of the scene it could bear the title ‘Chaplaincy volunteer on her knees,’or ‘Sitting down on the job!.’
Sweet chosen, I then had to get up, not an elegant movement!
A Prayer and a Hug
While serving on the hospital chaplaincy welcome table I sometimes wonder if I’m’ much help for the Kingdom. Then this week I met a young lady whose sister had been taken seriously ill. She was devastated and what she wanted was a prayer and a hug.
I believe everyone has a God-shaped hole in their heart. When the ‘chips are down’ even if they’re unbelievers they are drawn to God and prayer. They don’t know how to say a prayer and feel it has more power if someone says it for them.
When there is a national tragedy it is acceptable and welcome for a minister to say a prayer. People who never darken the doors of a church will yearn for God too be contacted. on their behalf.