Carol Purves

A time to search and a time to give up – When I am pursuing a lost cause I need to know when to give up. It is often my stubbornness which keeps me going. I need to recognise when God is saying no.

a time to keep and a time to throw away – as I’ve just had decorating done in my house it has been necessary to throw away many unwanted items. I need to re-clutter my house and my soul.

A time to be silent and a time to speak – this is something i need to hear. Often it is better when no words are said; a listening ear is all that is needed. Other times I need the courage to speak out, especially when speaking about my God. May God be my guide.

A time to love and a time to hate – this is a time to love others but a time to hate their sins.

‘My times are in His hands. Psalm 31:15

We read – a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing – during this time of covid it has certainly been a time to refrain from embracing. Something which is and will affect our mental wellbeing.

A time to tear down and a time to build – when i moved it was a time of tearing down in my garden. I needed to build it up again to a level where i could cope physically.

A time to weep and a time to laugh – Those who have mourned have needed my tears and those who have rejoiced have welcomed my laughter. Joy and sadness have both been experienced.

My God is a God of all seasons.

The third chapter of this book make very interesting reading. As I read it through the other day I reflected on how the apparent contradictions have reflected during my life and indeed through many other peoples.

A time to be born and a time to die – obviously I’ve only experienced the first part so far but I thank God that I’ve lived through a period of relatively prosperity for my country.

A time to plant and a time to uproot – fifteen years ago I felt God’s strong prompting to uproot from where I lived to move to a completely another part of the country. I thank Him daily for such an uprooting.

A time to kill and a time to heal – a difficult one this. Maybe a time to kill off my bad habits and sins. A time to grow good habits.

So much wisdom in a few words.

I keep a perpetual diary and every year record the date I saw my first snowdrop, crocus and daffodil. I used to record the first cuckoo I heard each year but sadly that no longer happens.

On 27th January this year I saw my first snowdrops. What a sight to behold. There was half a gale blowing and I was frozen but there they were, white, upright and brave. Although they were very small they were a promise of things to come. I’m sure God has given them to us at this time of year to cheer us up and promise that the cold, dark days are nearly over.

As a matter of only a little interest the first sighting in my county was on the 17th January in 2017 and the last on 9th February 2011. I don’t think you can read anything into that. But God does keep His promises.

As I was cleaning up after a culinary disaster I was scouring away at the burnt saucepan. ‘Steady on,’ cautioned my friend, ‘you will hurt the pan if you scrub it so hard.’ A strange notion towards a saucepan, but it made me think.

God has to scour away at my soul because of my sin. Some of my sin is hard to remove. It takes hard work on God’s part and remorse on mine. And like my pan it does hurt, It hurts a lot and I don’t like it. But it is necessary to rid me of my stains.

Now I can be like a shining new saucepan. Because of my sinful nature I will need more scouring in the future but meanwhile I can shine brightly for my Lord.

Leprosy is a tropical disease which today if caught early is curable by drugs. Sadly many cases are not diagnosed until the damage done can cause amputations and loss of sight along with other deformities. Because of the stigma it is often discovered too late for full healing. There are still between 2 and 3 million cases in the world today. The main concentration of the disease is in India, Brazil, Indonesia as well as the Congo and Bangladesh. In all it occurs in 161 countries in the world.

Leprosy is a global disease which it is hoped can be eradicated by the use of modern drugs. There are leper colonies in various parts of the world and The Leprosy Mission is one organization which is working towards this goal and hoping to build a new laboratory in Nepal, another country affected by the disease.

Lepers today are treated better than they were in the time of Jesus as we read in the Bible. Then they were outcast even more than they are today. How wonderful that Jesus healed many of them. Today there is hope.

As readers of my blog will know I set great store by the Bible. I consider it one of the ways that God relates to us. It contains words of wisdom for our lives as well words of comfort and direction. We can never exhaust the Bible. Sometimes we will read something which we have read hundreds of times before and it is illuminated to us and speaks to us with a new message.

I am of an age that I was brought up with the King James Versio0n. I no longer read that and have moved through the New King James Version to now reading the N.I.V. Therein lies a problem for me. As a child I learned passages from the Bible. There are two things which stop that happening now. Firstly, being older memorising passages are more difficult for me. But the other reason is that I have to ask myself which version do I use?

The KJV had a literacy beauty to it, which made it easy to remember, though I am told by scholars that there were many inaccuracies in the translation. The NIV and other versions do not trip off the tongue so smoothly. I have a problem.

The most important thing is to read and study the Bible and not to neglect it under any circumstances. So I keep the KJV to comfort me through the night and when I need arrow prayers and words of scripture. Then when reading and studying I use one of the many versions on offer. As I also learned as a child. – ‘Read your Bible every day, if you want to grow.’

A few days ago I was lamenting the fact that I can’t see the stars in my built-up area. Then this week quite unexpectedly I was standing in the middle of a field with no sound of traffic or people. Unfortunately it was a slightly cloudy sky but I was able to see a few stars. (Not the 6,000!) I stood still and just drank in the atmosphere.

I’m sure there were country animals lurking in the hedgerows waiting for me to go away, but I was able to savour the moment, so rare for me. It is an experience I will try to repeat.

We read these words in the first chapter of Genesis. They are almost a throw-away line. We are told of the creation of the big things, like the light, water, skies and sun. Four words tucked away in the middle of the vast creation story.

I live in a built-up area with plenty of light pollution, so my view of the stars is minimal. But nevertheless, they are still there, a wonderful part of God’s perfect creation. Research tells me that the light we now see from the stars is 10,000 years old; it has taken that time to reach us. This is completely outside my comprehension. With the naked eye we can see about 6,000 stars. (though not me!) They are always in the sky, just invisible as the sun reaches it’s full brilliance. In olden days, many a traveller and sailor would have found safety beneath these stars.

The most famous star was the one which led the wise men to the stable. I wonder if it was so bright that it could still be seen by day. This was a star which led and guided until it stood ‘right over the place where the young child lay.’

Before a lunch party where I didn’t know anyone very well, I prayed that I would have a chance to mention God and also that I would sit with a friendly group of people. Half way through the meal I said to God, thank you for the lovely meal and pleasant people but it doesn’t look as if I’m going to be able to mention You.

Then one chap mentioned that he went to the local pub three times a week to watch football. I found myself saying, ‘ That is like a church to you.’ When one lady said that no-one goes to church these days, God prompted me to say ‘I do, I’m a Christian ‘ From there on the conversation flowed. God was completely in control of the conversation, I only had to be willing and be obedient. I was able to say all the things one can only dream about having the opportunity to say.

God wrote the script; I only had to read it.