Carol Purves

The other evening I heard two bit of bad news. One was a tragedy, the other sad news. They did not affect me and mine personally, but I was struck by the fact that the devil is still wrecking havoc in this world. Nationally we hear of one disaster after another and our own circle of friends and acquaintances have troubles, as well as suffering ourselves.

That evening I felt a real sense of darkness. I grieved and I wept and then I turned to God. It is so easy to look down and around and feel discouraged. But we need to look up, look up to God. God is not just in His heaven; He is here all around us. He is in the grieving, dismay, frustration and our helplessness. There is no earthly answer to our suffering and confusion. God is the only answer.

This following quote needs to be said out aloud to really understand it. ‘I took a snook at the back of the book, and I saw that we won.’

When we disagree with people, there is the danger of thinking we are always right and others are in the wrong. We are so convinced in our opinions and stuck in our beliefs. There are times when we do not stop to consider the points of view of others. We only see things from our point of view.

Sometimes we could profitably stop and consider others to be in the right and ourselves in the wrong. We could then stop and consider matters in a different light. We will not necessarily change our point of view., but we will have a wider perspective on the issue.

It would also be good to consult with He, who knows all things, our Lord and Master.

As I plodded round the shops I realised that I felt extremely tired and exhausted. Using a bit of common sense I knew I needed something to drink. I was dehydrated. These days to get a drink in a cafe is not an easy task.

In first place I approached I found I needed to book. Honestly, book for a just glass of water! My next attempt was closed. The third was closed for a private function. Thinking of the Biblical text about giving a glass of water to a stranger didn’t help. Then looking up one street I spied people sitting out at tables. It meant more steps and up an incline. Did I have enough strength? But I’m used to exhaustion, so up I went.

By now a glass of water was not enough, I ordered a glass of juice and the smallest cake I could see. I sank down at one of the outside tables. Then a voice said ‘It’s Carol, isn’t it.’ Standing beside me was a friend I hadn’t seen for about six years. As she sat down opposite me I could only wonder how God had intervened. God wanted me at this table at this particular time. My friend, who didn’t often use this cafe had been led by God to this place at this particular time.

My friend was the only person who I knew lived in this town which I hadn’t been to for about two years. A friendship was renewed and much of the next day spent together. I could not have dreamed of this meeting. Only God could orange it. This God of ours who controls the universe and everything in it, loves us enough to care for us in this way. I could only thank and praise God all over again.

A sign of the times; I’m excited to have been away for two nights just 50 miles away. Since last September I’ve not been away anywhere. Now I’ve spent two nights in Kendal, a lively little town in the heart of the Lake District. The scenery all around was stunning, hills and mountains, some mist topped. The town itself was full of little shops and hide away places. Time spent exploring was enjoyable.

The place was buzzing with people but unfortunately there were empty shops, and to use cafes it was necessary to book. So sad for all the tourist industry. A sign of the times.

For months we have been living through difficult times. The pandemic has affected the lives of everyone. No-one has escape. In our different ways and at different levels. We have changed priorities and relationships and often not in a good way. Many people have developed mental health issues and we are all living with a short fuse.

As Christians we need to think about how we cope with this. For ourselves, we can be tolerant of ourselves and realise that we will be short-tempered and angry. We can turn to God to help us with these feelings and that our fuse might be lengthened.

Thinking about our friends we can be more tolerant of them as well. We might not know what their particular problem is but we can show them understanding. These difficult times will pass, there will be a bright future ahead. In everything we can take it to the Lord in prayer.

We often use these words or similar at the end of our prayers. ‘For His name’s sake.’ ‘In the name of Christ.’ We are acknowledging that we do not come to God Almighty in our own strength or merit. It is only by the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf that we even dare to pray to God.

Why do we say these words at the end of our prayers and not at the beginning. We start our prayers, give our praise and make our requests. But we haven’t acknowledged that we are praying through Jesus. We are talking to the One Almighty God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Maker of Heaven and Earth. Moses removed His sandals in submission at the burning bush and when he had been in the presence of God his face was too radiant for the Israelites to look at it.

Would our prayers be deeper and more meaningful if we firstly acknowledged the one through we pray, Jesus Christ our Saviour?

There is nothing wrong with having riches; we are told in the Bible ‘the love of money is the root of all evil.’ 1 Timothy 6:10. It is the love of money and not the wealth itself which is wrong. In my area there was a Christian builder who by working hard became rich. Whenever he built a group of houses he also built a chapel. He built many fine buildings in this area as well as in London. He was known for his honesty and fair dealings. He built and established Bible colleges as well as giving away vast sums of money to the needy. When he died he had £300 in the bank.

John was rich in spirit as well as in money. He used his wealth for the glory of God.

We read of these in Matthew 25 though in my day they were called ‘talents.’ I believe everyone has been given these by God but in my case it was probably one. I think my talent is to write, but I have to ask myself what am I actually doing with my talent. Am I using it or is it buried. With God’s help I have written four books, a number of stories, articles and meditations.

That was in the past and was all very well and good but what about now? I am not as fit as I once was and need to rest for a time each day. I am not using my talent as much as I was.

I’m not very proficient on social media with things like face book, instagram and twitter, and many other things I’ve never even heard of. Does God understand how I struggle with these? Does He know how often I’m too tired to write? Instead of writing I need to rest. Yes, I believe He does. I need to remember my talent is a gift and not a burden. Surely He will give me all the strength to do all I need to do. So at the moment I have to trust, obey and rest.

In Genesis 1 we read that God looked at His creation and pronounced it very good. This is our world that He is talking about. I wonder what He thinks about it today with global warming and wars, fires and fighting, corruption and chaos. To hear the news is depressing and frightening. On our own we just cannot be trusted to run the world successfully.

Greed and gluttony are the order of the day while poverty and persecution reign. In our running of this world we are proving our ineptitude.; we are too proud to be any good at it.

‘Return to the Lord’. As individuals we can feel so powerless. We may not be able to influence governments or be able to change laws. They is only one thing we can do. We can prayer. God can use others so together we can influence matters under His guidance and the world can return to the praise of God.

Two friends of mine have just moved house. In both cases they were difficult moves taking a few months. It made me think about the Israelites who took forty years to move. They knew the place they were moving from (Egypt) and the place they were going to (The Promised Land). I sure there were times with my friends when they thought they would never make it. In the event only two of the Israelites made it.

This week it is 15 years since I moved. In spite of the difficulties for me, God was with me all the way. Forty years is a very long time with all the difficulties and dangers they faced. All they had to do was be obedient to God (which they were some of the time)

It’s a bit like our journey to heaven. We know where we are and we know where we’re going. In most cases our journeys will be longer than 40 years, maybe twice that time. Unlike the Israelites we need to make sure we get there.