Great sermon in BTW yesterday which has left me with an
indelible image of a mother hen drawing her chicks in tight, sheltered under
her wings, in times of danger. The truth that God is just such a mother hen,
longing to draw us in close and protect us through whatever trials we are
suffering, is just so amazing. The fact that Jesus wept over our failure to
allow him to draw us in – he wept because so many of us stubbornly insist on
sticking it out alone.
Maybe I’m just weak, or he has blessed me with faith, but I
know that I have pulled in close to God many times in my life and let him
shelter me through the storms. During times of illness and bereavement. Years
of various teenage rebellions and struggles. Disappointments when dreams have
apparently died. Homesickness. Uncertainty. Gosh, the list is endless. (I hope
he’s not getting a bit fed up with this ‘chick’ who cuddles in so often!)
Praying yesterday for the world. Just saying the names of
various countries conjures pictures of terror and suffering, fear and torment:
Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, Nigeria, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Vietnam ...
the list is long.
There is a story in the Old Testament about a king whose
troops are surrounded by the enemy and it seems there is no hope. He calls his
warriors to pray and leads them in prayer, saying, memorably, ‘Lord, we don’t
know what to do. But Lord, our eyes are on you.’
In the apparently intractable troubles of your life and mine
today, let’s pull in close to God and pray, ‘Lord, we don’t know what to do.
But Lord, our eyes are on you.’ Amen.
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