A ship sank off the coast of India, Don tells me, taking
with it a cargo of billions of small plastic beads, which will wreck the marine
life in the area. Cheery, starting the day with that bit of news…
Well, I counter as I emerge from the prayer window: the
earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. For God, nothing is impossible. Ocean
clean-up; peace in war zones; overthrowing of tyrants and disease, hunger and
deprivation.
The news is generally dire these days, but I am going to
praise the Lord of heaven and earth, who loves us and gave his life for us. Not
in an air-head way, but in a deliberate act of faith in our loving and faithful
Lord, who is the Alpha and the Omega, who has redeemed this earth from the
tyranny of the enemy oppressor.
I believe in God the Father; I believe in Christ his Son; I
believe in the Holy Spirit: my God is three-in-one. I believe in the
Resurrection; I believe Jesus will come again. Why? How can I believe this?
Because I have experienced his love, his mercies, his grace and his peace: he
transformed my life. I know who I believe in.
And so I declare his praises this morning. Whatever my
feelings about the state of the world, I believe in the loving faithful God,
full of grace and truth and mercy and forgiveness.