As someone busy about God's work I have often become impatient with delays and hold-ups of various kinds. "Here I am in God's service," I have thought. "The King's business requires haste, and this trivial problem is holding me up!"
Often this is the lower nature getting the better of me. It is all too easy to think the world should stop for me when I am on pastoral duties, especially when I am behind schedule.
Recently I have caught myself becoming impatient even when at a loose end, when there is nothing to rush for. Something has delayed me and I have become really cross. Then I ask myself, "This rush of emotional energy is completely pointless! I have no deadlines to meet today!"
God's work is urgent, of course. Jesus taught His disciples that there were only so many hours in the day, and He and they must keep working while daylight lasted (John 9:4). It grieves me to see many churches and church leaders self-indulgent in the extreme and lacking in urgency. Yet we look for a day when the march of time will no longer be allowed to dictate our lives:
Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand,
Never foe can follow, never traitor stand;
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,
Not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there.
- Frances Ridley Havergal
Friday, 25 February 2011
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Choices revisited
Back in October last year I reflected on choices. Since then one door slammed firmly shut in my search for a pastorate, but I again find myself with two churches in different parts of the country seriously considering me.
Circumstances outside my control may again narrow the choice down at any time. But the present happy position leads me to reflect once more on the Christian view of choice.
In the affluent West we are spoiled for choice. The supermarkets are brim full of options. For almost every commodity there are at least two alternatives. People have become used to picking and mixing, even demanding it as a right. It gives them a glowing feeling of being in control.
Towards the end of his career as leader of Israel, Joshua challenged the Israelites, "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve". He mentioned a selection of alternative gods, but in reality the choice was simple: Jehovah, God of Israel, or the rest. To choose Jehovah God was to choose service with dignity. To choose any other god was to opt for slavery. The choice for the Christian is: do as you like, and suffer spiritually as a result, or serve the interests of the living God and grow tall.
It is possible to make a genuine mistake in choosing between two alternatives. I guess I've done that many times in the past. However, as a friend said, "God does not punish anyone for making a mistake". Please pray with me that God will make the way ahead crystal clear. That way I can serve Him confidently for the rest of my working life, in thankfulness for all that His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, did for me.
Circumstances outside my control may again narrow the choice down at any time. But the present happy position leads me to reflect once more on the Christian view of choice.
In the affluent West we are spoiled for choice. The supermarkets are brim full of options. For almost every commodity there are at least two alternatives. People have become used to picking and mixing, even demanding it as a right. It gives them a glowing feeling of being in control.
Towards the end of his career as leader of Israel, Joshua challenged the Israelites, "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve". He mentioned a selection of alternative gods, but in reality the choice was simple: Jehovah, God of Israel, or the rest. To choose Jehovah God was to choose service with dignity. To choose any other god was to opt for slavery. The choice for the Christian is: do as you like, and suffer spiritually as a result, or serve the interests of the living God and grow tall.
It is possible to make a genuine mistake in choosing between two alternatives. I guess I've done that many times in the past. However, as a friend said, "God does not punish anyone for making a mistake". Please pray with me that God will make the way ahead crystal clear. That way I can serve Him confidently for the rest of my working life, in thankfulness for all that His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, did for me.
Monday, 31 January 2011
Focus
When little is happening in your life some days, it is important to have a focus for each day. Otherwise a sense of drift and aimlessness takes over.
Your quiet time with God is a key element in that focus: Bible reading and prayer. All sorts of thoughts may have been floating around in your head, some of them having little to do with reality. The Bible deals with real life and helps bring you back - I nearly said "back down to earth", but that's only part of it: it brings you back "up to heaven" as well! Having read the Bible passages, you can turn to God in prayer in a "real" frame of mind.
I love the importance prayer times had for Daniel of old, when he was under pressure from envious colleagues who wanted to get rid of him. A decree had gone out that no prayer was to be offered except to the king for thirty days - unacceptable to Daniel. We are told that Daniel simply and deliberately opened an upstairs window facing towards Jerusalem, and three times a day he knelt down and prayed. What a wonderful habit of life to have when he could have spent his days frantic with despair! What a great focus those prayer times must have been each day! In his prayers he gave thanks to his God, which shows us that it wasn't just an exercise for his own benefit, to calm him down. We read the Bible and pray because God means us to.
Believe it or not, even Jesus needed to pray. It was a focus for His day too.
On the lone mountain side,
before the morning's light,
the Man of Sorrows wept and cried,
and rose refreshed with might.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Your quiet time with God is a key element in that focus: Bible reading and prayer. All sorts of thoughts may have been floating around in your head, some of them having little to do with reality. The Bible deals with real life and helps bring you back - I nearly said "back down to earth", but that's only part of it: it brings you back "up to heaven" as well! Having read the Bible passages, you can turn to God in prayer in a "real" frame of mind.
I love the importance prayer times had for Daniel of old, when he was under pressure from envious colleagues who wanted to get rid of him. A decree had gone out that no prayer was to be offered except to the king for thirty days - unacceptable to Daniel. We are told that Daniel simply and deliberately opened an upstairs window facing towards Jerusalem, and three times a day he knelt down and prayed. What a wonderful habit of life to have when he could have spent his days frantic with despair! What a great focus those prayer times must have been each day! In his prayers he gave thanks to his God, which shows us that it wasn't just an exercise for his own benefit, to calm him down. We read the Bible and pray because God means us to.
Believe it or not, even Jesus needed to pray. It was a focus for His day too.
On the lone mountain side,
before the morning's light,
the Man of Sorrows wept and cried,
and rose refreshed with might.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Monday, 17 January 2011
Headlights
My way ahead is as yet unclear, and I need the Psalm-writer's words in Psalm 119:105 "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path".
I have been following Our Daily Bread daily Bible notes (produced by Radio Bible Class) for many years. Often the writer has put in something which I needed that day.
Today's offering came from Joe Stowell: "God usually doesn’t show us where He is taking us. He just asks us to trust Him. It’s like driving a car at night. Our headlights never shine all the way to our destination; they illuminate only about 160 feet ahead. But that doesn’t deter us from moving forward. We trust our headlights. All we really need is enough light to keep moving forward. God’s Word is like headlights in dark times."
160 feet is next to nothing in a car travelling at any speed. Yet, 160 feet at a time, I can keep going. I have as much light as I need until the future becomes plainer.
Meanwhile small delights are indicators, however tiny, of a providing God. I was out walking and hoping to see an historical feature in the landscape. Given my lack of skill with map reading and interpretation, I was almost guaranteed to miss it. Yet I met a lady walking her dog who knew the feature and could describe every bend in the road leading up to it. Happily I went straight to it. A mere nothing, you might say, but to me at this time everything that goes right is a boost.
I have been following Our Daily Bread daily Bible notes (produced by Radio Bible Class) for many years. Often the writer has put in something which I needed that day.
Today's offering came from Joe Stowell: "God usually doesn’t show us where He is taking us. He just asks us to trust Him. It’s like driving a car at night. Our headlights never shine all the way to our destination; they illuminate only about 160 feet ahead. But that doesn’t deter us from moving forward. We trust our headlights. All we really need is enough light to keep moving forward. God’s Word is like headlights in dark times."
160 feet is next to nothing in a car travelling at any speed. Yet, 160 feet at a time, I can keep going. I have as much light as I need until the future becomes plainer.
Meanwhile small delights are indicators, however tiny, of a providing God. I was out walking and hoping to see an historical feature in the landscape. Given my lack of skill with map reading and interpretation, I was almost guaranteed to miss it. Yet I met a lady walking her dog who knew the feature and could describe every bend in the road leading up to it. Happily I went straight to it. A mere nothing, you might say, but to me at this time everything that goes right is a boost.
Friday, 24 December 2010
Settled?
As the year ends, hope rises. Interest from one church situation in particular is becoming more firm, and I am beginning to look forward to being what they call "settled" in a pastorate.
God grant I shall be "settled" this time. It is possible to be most unsettled in a church. One meets those who seem determined to make you as uncomfortable as possible in your work. These are the complex characters and loose cannons who go off bang at unexpected moments, leaving you never knowing where you stand with them.
In some ways, God never means us to be settled in this life. The apostle Paul had to do a complete turnaround once he had met the risen Jesus. The status and advantages Paul once relied on no longer meant anything, because he was now living for Jesus. Jesus Himself declared a blessing on those who hungered and thirsted for righteousness, never content with the world and its injustice.
We are constantly called on to leave our comfort zones. We are reminded that Christmas was cold comfort for Mary and Joseph in the draughty stable. But, along life's bumpy road, may God give us friends in the churches who allow us to settle in among them. Welcoming, caring people like that remind us of the wonderful fellowship of heaven, where there is eternal security and where we will never be unsettled or oppressed.
God grant I shall be "settled" this time. It is possible to be most unsettled in a church. One meets those who seem determined to make you as uncomfortable as possible in your work. These are the complex characters and loose cannons who go off bang at unexpected moments, leaving you never knowing where you stand with them.
In some ways, God never means us to be settled in this life. The apostle Paul had to do a complete turnaround once he had met the risen Jesus. The status and advantages Paul once relied on no longer meant anything, because he was now living for Jesus. Jesus Himself declared a blessing on those who hungered and thirsted for righteousness, never content with the world and its injustice.
We are constantly called on to leave our comfort zones. We are reminded that Christmas was cold comfort for Mary and Joseph in the draughty stable. But, along life's bumpy road, may God give us friends in the churches who allow us to settle in among them. Welcoming, caring people like that remind us of the wonderful fellowship of heaven, where there is eternal security and where we will never be unsettled or oppressed.
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Perfect love?
"The entrance of love into our hearts means the exit of fear," the daily notes screamed at me this morning, inspired by 1 John 4:18. I am painfully aware that my fears haven't exited, so I wonder whether the love is struggling to get in. This comes home to me whenever I step on ice.
I shy away from any risk of losing my balance. Last Christmas time my feet slid forward suddenly on some black ice and and I fell heavily on the base of my spine. It took weeks for my bones and muscles to readjust themselves. To protect me in this cold snap I bought an invention that slips over the soles and heels of your shoes and contains tiny tungsten spikes that grip the ice. I feel a bit of a fool wearing this because most of the time it is only gripping on tarmac and wearing out.
Of course John is talking about other fears that more directly involve a failure of love. A writer made a list which began with "Suspicion, mistrust, fear of exposure or exploitation ..." It is certainly tempting to over-protect oneself against what others might do or say. Breakdowns in relationships, and even wars, can result. It is also a betrayal of Jesus, because Jesus did not protect Himself against the cross, which was for our benefit.
Even while hope rises that a new pastorate will come my way before long, I feel vulnerable. Will the tender shoots of hope be crushed at the last minute? You scrutinise every word, every slightest signal, and fear that others are doing the same in regard to you. Christian love does not come easy when the desired outcome is not yet in the bag. In the meantime, however, there are many opportunities to show care and concern, even at some risk. Each opportunity taken gives you the confidence that, however imperfectly, you can still show a love that warms God's heart.
I shy away from any risk of losing my balance. Last Christmas time my feet slid forward suddenly on some black ice and and I fell heavily on the base of my spine. It took weeks for my bones and muscles to readjust themselves. To protect me in this cold snap I bought an invention that slips over the soles and heels of your shoes and contains tiny tungsten spikes that grip the ice. I feel a bit of a fool wearing this because most of the time it is only gripping on tarmac and wearing out.
Of course John is talking about other fears that more directly involve a failure of love. A writer made a list which began with "Suspicion, mistrust, fear of exposure or exploitation ..." It is certainly tempting to over-protect oneself against what others might do or say. Breakdowns in relationships, and even wars, can result. It is also a betrayal of Jesus, because Jesus did not protect Himself against the cross, which was for our benefit.
Even while hope rises that a new pastorate will come my way before long, I feel vulnerable. Will the tender shoots of hope be crushed at the last minute? You scrutinise every word, every slightest signal, and fear that others are doing the same in regard to you. Christian love does not come easy when the desired outcome is not yet in the bag. In the meantime, however, there are many opportunities to show care and concern, even at some risk. Each opportunity taken gives you the confidence that, however imperfectly, you can still show a love that warms God's heart.
Sunday, 21 November 2010
Hospitality
One of the joys of my current situation is to find myself on the receiving end of hospitality of various kinds. I am thankful to God for the kindly Christian family on the island of Guernsey who graciously let me stay with them for a week at a time. Being in their company and roaming free round the island recently has given me one of my most relaxing and enjoyable holidays ever. Then there are the guest house owners who make hospitality their livelihood, and consciously maintain professional standards while still seeking to offer a family atmosphere.
The people I am lodging with take hospitality to a new level, the relatively long-term. That is a gift of a special order: they have kindly made me part of their household, a privileged if at times delicate position. In all these situations I study to be an appreciative and co-operative guest. It is a great pleasure when a host comments, "You're no trouble to look after!"
Hospitality is great to receive and a joy to give too. Whoever is hospitable is following a scripture command: "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares" (Hebrews 13:2, ESV). A wealthy woman once provided food for the prophet Elisha and then persuaded her husband to supply something more substantial, a furnished room with "a bed, a table, a chair and a lamp" (2 Kings 4:10).
The guest we should seek most to welcome is the Lord Jesus Christ, who knocks on the door of the human heart asking to come in. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20). Are your heart and mine available, clean and kitted out with proper furniture to welcome the Master?
An old hymn, "On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry", has a verse which goes:
Then cleansed be every breast from sin;
make straight the way for God within;
prepare we in our hearts a home
where such a mighty Guest may come.
The people I am lodging with take hospitality to a new level, the relatively long-term. That is a gift of a special order: they have kindly made me part of their household, a privileged if at times delicate position. In all these situations I study to be an appreciative and co-operative guest. It is a great pleasure when a host comments, "You're no trouble to look after!"
Hospitality is great to receive and a joy to give too. Whoever is hospitable is following a scripture command: "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares" (Hebrews 13:2, ESV). A wealthy woman once provided food for the prophet Elisha and then persuaded her husband to supply something more substantial, a furnished room with "a bed, a table, a chair and a lamp" (2 Kings 4:10).
The guest we should seek most to welcome is the Lord Jesus Christ, who knocks on the door of the human heart asking to come in. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20). Are your heart and mine available, clean and kitted out with proper furniture to welcome the Master?
An old hymn, "On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry", has a verse which goes:
Then cleansed be every breast from sin;
make straight the way for God within;
prepare we in our hearts a home
where such a mighty Guest may come.
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