Freelance writer and Speaker
I was reading about the starlings who make wonderful murmurations as they fly across the sky. One of the reasons for these formations is that by flying in large groups they are safer from their prediters.
This reminds me of the church. By meeting and worshiping with others, we too will be strengthened from the wiles of the devil.
As I’ve just had a short period of illness, I’ve been reliant on help from my friends. They have been helping me in the name of Christ. For me it has been a period of receiving and not giving. We never know when this will happen to us. So let us all give when we can so that God can say ‘As you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to Me. Matt 25:40
The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
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
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.
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.’
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.
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.
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.