Wait-Wait

Wait-wait on the Lord, the psalmist encourages. So I wait-waited in my prayer window, lingering long, asking for a word, asking God to guide my prayers. They circumnavigated the globe and then when I checked a message on Messenger, it was a series of amazing Gospel singers, one after the other, singing the well-known spiritual, He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.

Of course he does. Of course we know that. But it was so encouraging to hear it sung with conviction and grace and beauty.

I saw, in my imagination, a root. A root which stretched underground, out of sight, but which was sprouting along its length. Sprouting new green shoots, shoots reaching through the darkness to the light.

May this time of fear and darkness be shot through with rays of brilliant light, Jesus. May this light draw many out of the darkness as they search for meaning and comfort. May we be bearers of hope and faith in the goodness of God, as we email, text and talk on the phone to our family, friends and neighbours.

We all have time now to wait-wait on the Lord. He is waiting patiently for each of us to draw near.

Can't hear you!

Like most people worldwide, we had a simplified service streamed from Banchory this morning. Worship led by a married couple; service led by the minister.

The sound quality was terrible. Maybe it’s my laptop? We couldn’t really hear the prayer, nor the message. But we could join the worship. Worthy is the Lamb who saves. Worthy is the King who conquers the grave. Our God is faithful. He never leaves us.

There was something so moving about seeing church leaders there, leading as usual. Something so inspiring knowing others in our church community were participating, too.

Sometimes I sit in my prayer window, desperate to hear what God will say to me. And I can’t quite hear him. I hear a faint whisper maybe, but it’s indistinct and I’m not sure I’m hearing a message. But I sense he is there. I worship, and I come out refreshed and renewed.

In crisis, our instinct is to join together with our loved ones. Exactly what we can’t do now. But God is there, waiting. We can spend time with him. Even if we can’t hear him clearly, we can sense his presence, and we can worship.

God bless this world which he created and redeemed through the agony of the cross.

Contagious Laughter

Contagious humour. Infectious laughter. Contagious kindness. An outbreak of networking by phone to ensure nobody is too lonely, or without vital supplies. Not everything infectious is to be avoided.

We don’t yet know for sure how Covid-19 is transmitted so we are instructed to avoid all contact. Social distancing. Self-isolation. Quarantine. All that may protect us from the virus but it can make us vulnerable to fear and depression.

Jesus taught that we are to love each other like he loves us. The difference between normal human love and his divine love is the degree of self-sacrifice: he was willing to be quarantined from his beloved Father’s presence on the cross and until his resurrection because he loves us – unworthy sinners – so much.

In these days we are experiencing so many instances of people reaching out to one another. Not all loving kindness springs from love for Jesus. There is an innate goodness in each of us, created from the beginning. When God made humans, he looked and saw that what he made was good.

But when we love Jesus, we should demonstrate an even greater willingness to go the extra mile – make the extra phone call – pick up the extra supplies for others. Jesus said that people will see that we love Jesus through the demonstration of selfless love for one another.

2020 is the year of evangelism. We never expected it to arrive in this challenging form. But we have opportunity to spread contagious faith. To present infectious love for Jesus. To impact our world as we pray earnestly, and are ready to give the reason for our unshakeable hope for the future: Jesus in us. Jesus yesterday, today and forever. Praise him.

Such a time as this

Another few hours spent in the garden. As I dug up the weeds, I had my first sighting this year of a lady bug, scrambling over leaves and grass. I plunged in the garden fork, getting ever closer to her, shaking the weeds and sending dirt clods flying in all directions. For the wee lady bug, it must have felt like an earthquake.

Undaunted, she continued to patter round on the leaves. I told her to fly away home but she didn’t heed my advice. I moved to another area, and when I went back, she had crawled right off the soft verdant leaves and was headed out into the vast (to her), empty dirt desert.

She didn’t pay attention to the signs of the times. So instead of retreating to a safe place, she found herself in a dry and weary land where there was no water.

There are many in today’s world headed into a dry and weary land where there is no water. We have the God-given opportunity to offer the water of life to those who thirst and fear. To share the comforting words of Jesus assuring us that we need not fear, because he is with us always.

Let’s make the most of this opportunity. Who knows but what we were born for such a time as this?

Pruned and Prolific

I spent some time weeding and pruning the roses yesterday. I don’t really know what I’m doing, but I tried to cut back the stems which were twisted closely together, to allow fresh air to circulate in the middle of the bushes particularly. Seems like a good idea.

Our Father the gardener does know what he’s doing, thankfully. As we trust in him, he will use Covid-19 to prune us so that we can bloom profusely, form good fruit for others and give off the fragrance of Jesus. He is the God of the impossible, who can bring good out of the most desperate situations. This is a time to draw near to him and trust.

As we walk (alone) through these challenging times, we can trust him that in fact, we are not walking alone at all. He is with us.

Share

‘We would ask everyone to be considerate in the way they shop. We understand your concerns but buying more than is needed can sometimes mean that others are left without.’ (Open letter from several retail grocery stores.)

This is a picture of the injustice of the distribution of the world’s resources. We in the developed world (I include myself) store away for tomorrow without considering that means someone today can’t eat or be warm as a result.

With effort, and God’s help, we can come out of this crisis better people.

Marble Fudge

I remember when a scoop of marble fudge ice cream cost a nickel (5 cents) at Thrifty Drug Store. A memory that long must place me in the ‘at risk’ category!

One of my favourite cakes growing up was a marble fudge cake which my Mom made. Vanilla and chocolate swirled in random patterns, mingling flavours. Mmm.

Those who love Jesus are those who obey him. That is my aim, but so often I fail. I am like marble fudge, only without the ‘mmmm’. The vanilla, who I want to be as I long to follow Jesus more closely, is shot through with swirls of fudge – the dark side that I want to eradicate. Why does it always appear so much tastier than the light side?

I once wrote an article comparing angel food with devil’s food cake. I was helping with a teenage girls’ Bible study at the time, so I made one of each and took them for a taste test. Overwhelmingly, the girls preferred the dark chocolate devil’s food cake over the highly whipped and risen angel food.

I don’t mean to trivialise our sinful natures by comparing them to cake and ice cream. I’m just saying that when I am not careful to focus on and listen to Jesus, and obey, the dark side of me emerges. I am so grateful that Jesus looks at me with eyes of grace, but still, I long to be more angel than devil.

Right now, during this outbreak and the fear swirling round it, we who trust in Jesus should be proclaiming in word and deed that Jesus brings us his peace, and that we should not be troubled or afraid but trust in him. We do not live in fear but in faith.

We don’t know what is coming next, except that it will continue to be marble fudge, and we want to love and obey Jesus so we live empowered by the Spirit. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.