Weather outside is frightful.
The winds are whipping the trees into convulsive frenzies
and driving the clouds through the sky. Occasional snow flurries blacken the
day and then pass on to the next location.
People all over the country are trying to get home for
Christmas. In the south of England there are floods, trees on the rail lines
and roads. All making for treacherous journeys.
And I can’t control any of it. The weather will do what it
will do, occasionally altered by a fervent prayer which times in with God’s
plans, but more usually probably just the result of nature.
I can control the weather inside my head, though. Yesterday
was the third anniversary of my dear dad’s passing on, and I was awake in the
night remembering that night. I think about my ageing mother, thousands of
miles away from me, grieving still. And I recognise I could give way to a
raging storm of anxiety and fear for her future.
Or, I could focus on God. Psalm 63 says ‘On my bed I
remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are
my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right
hand upholds me.’
I can choose to think of God in the middle of the night
rather than rehearse my anxieties. It isn’t an easy choice. The mind is
notoriously rebellious and difficult to control. But again, the Bible declares
that believers have ‘the mind of Christ’. He didn’t worry. He spent many of his
sleepless nights out on the hills being close to his Father, from whom came his
help. That’s why he could sing and worship as he headed towards the cross. He was
in the shadow of his father’s wings, and he knew it.
So I have spent some time this morning in my prayer alcove,
resting in the shadow of my heavenly Father’s wings. I have waited for his
presence to be felt, for his peace to fill my heart. I have held those about
whom I have concerns up before the throne of God, and entrusted them to his
care.
My soul clings to God. I pray that yours does too. That is
the way to perfect peace. Trusting in his faithfulness and love.
Merry Christmas Eve.
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