Carol Purves

As dawn broke the skies were stormy and overcast. The dark clouds against the leaden skies were dashing across at a great rate of knots. The bowing, straining boughs on the tress were evidence of the howling winds. By being indoors myself, I was in the best place.

Against this wild scene I saw a solitary bird battling the elements. Wherever he was going he was on a mission and no amount of turbulence was going to top him. Sadly I know that many birds do not survive the winter, but I also know that God knows and cares for each one. If God can bother about a tiny insignificant bird I know that He also cares abut me.

‘His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He cares for me.’

Martin King Jr said ‘I may not yet be the man I should be, or with God’s help the man I someday will be – but thank God I’m not the man I used to be.’ In our Christian life are we on a plateau or are we climbing the heavenly hill? Is there holy growth in our lives? 1 Corinthians verse 26 asks ‘Brothers, think of what you were when you were called? before we were called we were dead in our trespasses of sin.

Then God did a wonderful work in our lives. We were saved of our sin, but there needs to be growth in our Christian lives. As the apostle Paul tells us in the first book of Corinthians, we should not remain feeding on milk but on solid food. It is easy to get in a spiritual rut and think we’re ok. .We can rest on our laurels. But we are battling against the powers of darkness, against this world, the flesh and the devil. We need as much strength as we can get. As Christian found in Pilgrims Progress, life is a struggle to get to the heavenly city.

Reading the book of the prophet Micah can be hard-going because of it’s sombre message. Alternating between messages of doom and hope there are nuggets of beauty and pointers to the coming Messiah. Micah 6:8 says ‘What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to walk humbly with your God.’

My home city has used part of this verse for their motto. As they have omitted the first few words and the last, it reads ‘ To act justly and love mercy.’ There is no mention of ‘What does the Lord require of you? and also ‘and to walk humbly with your God.’

We omit God from our nation and politics at our peril. There is proof at the present time that we do not have enough wisdom or foresight to govern our nation; Apart from God there is no-one who knows what is best for our nation. When we look at the world, ‘Christ is the answer to our every need.’

A great deal of our life is striving. We strive to get everything done, we strive to make ends meet and strive to ‘keep up with the Joneses.’

I do feel that this is not how God wants us to live. It is God’s will that we should rest in His love and not stress ourselves. In creation He has given us all beauty and resources that we can ever need. There is plenty of food for the whole world if only we would learn to share and not be greedy. There should be no hungry mouths or starving children. God’s resources are bountiful and plentiful. After all, God saw what He had made and it was good.

The beauty of the countryside lifts our spirits and feeds our souls. Jesus says rest in Me for My yoke is easy and my burden is light. No more striving; let us thrive with the Lord.

The preaching we hear from the pulpit should not make us feel comfortable. Preaching should disturb us. Our job is not to sit cosily in the pews in a self-satisfied state. The preacher is God’s mouth-piece. Like the prophets before them they are the bearers of heavenly news and often it is upsetting.

Unfortunately, we want cosy words not confrontation. The message should be so direct that it should make us be uncomfortable and a feeling that the sermon was just for us. Nevertheless at times it will be receiving words of comfort from the pulpit.

The responsibility of the preacher is great. They are charged by God to share His message. What could be more important! It has been said ‘Good preaching disturbs the comfortable and comforts the disturbed.’

Luke 12 tells us of the rich fool who had a bumper harvest and planned to build bigger barns to store his grain. He thought he was set up for life; well, he was, a life of just a few hours! There is nothing wrong with Christians being rich. They’ve probably worked very hard for their money and it has paid dividends. The responsibility is then what to do with these riches.

I know of Christian philanthropists who at the time of their death had very little wealth and money but had given away vast sums of money and had set up trusts for the needy in their name. The answer is not building bigger barns. Many lottery winners are the most unhappy people. As I once heard said, ‘Don’t build bigger barns, build a bigger table.’

There had been no rain in Israel for three and a half years. No crops had grown, the people were hungry, there was a famine. Nevertheless the people of God sowed their seed in the usual way, they sowed into the barren, parched soil. Then when the rain came the seed started to germinate. All that the seed had needed was rain. The people had faith. It would have been no use waiting until it rained and then planting the seed.

We, too, have to sow into the barren cold soil of people’s hearts. Often there will be no immediate results. Then one day, completely unexpectedly, the seed in the previously barren soil will become a harvest. It is no good waiting until the soil of the soul is ready. God is at work in places we don’t know about. Our task is to plant; the harvest will appear at God’s perfect timing.

The Bible tells us that Elijah prayed that it would not rain and it didn’t. Then he prayed that it would rain and it did. We may not be as great as Elijah but we pray to the same God, a God who does not change. We don’t have influence over nations as Elijah did, but our prayers still matter to our constant and loving God.

I marvel how it can be that God cares about my small problems and at the same time He cares about the cares of every single reader. I don’t understand this multi-faceted Lord but I can accept. May we always keep in communion with our long caring God who only wants the best for us. It all adds up to a pretty big Wow.