Carol’s Blog

When to Witness

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I’ve just started to become friendly with a new neighbour, Audrey, that I’ve begun to meet on the bus. Taking the conversation very slowly I had been able to tell her I was a Christian. She had been to Sunday School when she was a child but had fallen out with church. I noticed that when she spoke to others on the bus, she spoke roughly to them but became respectful when speaking to me.

I had hoped to meet her on future occasions and gradually speak to her more about my Lord. Then I learned that she had moved away and i wouldn’t be seeing her anymore. I felt guilty that I hadn’t spoken more firmly about my faith but realised that it was friendship evangelism I had been working on, though obviously not with Audrey. Then I looked at the matter logically.

I would not have been the only link in the chain of her learning more about You. I was probably just the smallest one in a list of many. Then, it is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict. Everything I said or left unsaid was of no consequence. As I had always prayed about the matter I knew God had directed me and I could safely leave the matter with Him.I do miss Audrey.

Not Even 40 minutes.

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Moses spent forty days and nights with God on Mount Sinai; no wonder his face shone. I realise how difficult I can find it to spend even forty minutes with God. So many thoughts flit though my head which do not involve connecting with God. My thoughts are completely inconsequential and don’t need to be thought at that time.

We want people to see Jesus in us but the only way that will happen is spending more time in His presence. I can despair of myself. The devil is wily, even invading my time of prayer and contemplation. The more I struggle the less I seem to succeed. The truth is I can’t do it in my own strength; I am too weak and feeble. Help is needed.

The help of the Holy Spirit is what is needed. Until the time comes when our ‘faith will become sight’ when our whole being will be centred on God, divine intervention is needed.

Looking in the Wrong Place

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My friend from Japan is always getting lost on our British roads. One day she was most indignant. ‘They had no right removing the sign.’ When pressed she explained, ‘There used to be a sign at the roundabout, directing one to the hospital. Now it’s gone.’ After further investigation, it was discovered the sign was still there but she was at the wrong roundabout.

How like mankind as a whole. We look for God in the wrong place. Is God to be found through money and possessions? This begs the question, how much money is enough? Money can be lost, possessions can be depleted. Is our salvation through our friends and family? We’ve said so many times before, they can die, move or let us down. Being thought important and having a prestige can easily float away. Ask any politician or person in a place of leadership. The general public are fickle. Today’s heroes can be tomorrows villains.

The right place to look for happiness, salvation and fulfillment is with God. Nowhere else is the right place.

My Way/Your Way

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I’m a great person for making lists. My to-do list had become important to me. (I have a friend who when they have completed one task, makes a new list omitting the finished task. I’m not as bad as that!) But I found that I was depending on my list too much and the day didn’t always go the way I’d planned it. I found that i was resenting things that intruded into my carefully planned time and became upset when people wanted my attention.

This was until I realised that I’d got it all wrong. I still make to-do lists but the first item is always ‘Ask God what His plans are for my day.’ Acting outside His will is a waste of time, because He sees the whole picture and knows what is best for me and others. He alone knows who needs my help or a listening ear during any particular day. God is aware of what mishaps may happen to me and He alone can prepare me.

I now wake up not knowing what the day may bring but knowing that I have a God who is in control and has planned the best for me. It is so exciting to be in God’s hands.

Name Change

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‘How come your husband is called Pop when you have no children?’ ‘He was christened Lawrence which became shortened to Lolly, then Lollypop and finally Pop!’ It was explained. Pop is not the only one to have his name changed. It happened quite a bit in the Bible.

God changed the names of Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah. After his encounter with God, Jacob’s name was altered to Israel. Joseph was given an Egyptian name – Zaphenath-paneah to fit in with that culture. Hoshea’s name meaning ‘salvation’ was changed to Joshua meaning ‘Yahweh saves.’ King Solomon, meaning ‘peaceable’ was altered by the prophet Nathan to Jedediah (beloved by God). Naomi after all her tragedies changed her own name to Mara – ‘bitter’. Daniel and his three friends had their names altered to fit in with the Babylon culture.

In the New Testament Simon whose name meant ‘one who hears,’ was changed to Peter meaning ‘rock’. At that time that would have seemed a strange choice but it proved that that was his final true character. Jesus had His own name fore-ordained for Him. Even I have had my name changed. I am now called a ‘Child of God.’

Beginning and End

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We have a God who has no beginning and therefore no end. It is only us poor mortals who have been placed in time; we have a beginning which is the time of our birth; we have an end, the time of death. For neither occasion do we have a choice of time, place or circumstance.

How gracious is our God to allow us to have a new day, every day where we have the opportunity to start again. As the hymn writer says ‘New every morning is Thy love……’ Daily the slate is wiped clean, future sins and problems haven’t arrived. The present that God has given us, is the present

Happiness

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What do we depend on for our happiness? It is so easy to grasp unsubstantial and fleeting things. Our happiness can’t rest in our health. As we get older parts of our bodies wear out and the number of pills we take and the visits to the hospital increase. We don’t appreciate the good health we do have until it diminishes. Relying on good health is not the way to happiness.

Our happiness cannot stem from our family and friends. We are thankful for them as they walk beside us in our lives. But our dependence mustn’t be on them. Sadly friends can hurt and let us down. Family members can die. To fully depend on these people is like leaning on a frail reed instead of a strong stick. Nor can we trust in money; prices rise, savings diminish and the things we purchase will not always fully satisfy. A shortage brings worries and an abundance brings other kinds of worry. Money is not the answer to our searching.

We need something that will never let us down; we hope for somebody who is utterly reliable. We have it! Because we have God, we have all we need.

Time

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Dear Lord,

As we thank You for the gift of time which provides us with a past, present and future, we ask for ourselves and for others to have enough time; time to pray and to listen to You, time to think Your thoughts and obey Your will.

May I have enough time for others and their needs, so my life is not concentrated on myself. May my time be spent for Christians and those who don’t yet know You, in the correct proportions.

While we still have this gift, may we use it to the full before the time arrives when time will be no more and when in the later day we have to give an account to You of how we spent this commodity. May we not be ashamed.

Minutes, days, months, decades make up this elusive thing which we can’t rewind, it is literally here today and gone tomorrow. Like all Your gifts it is not to be squandered but used and treasured.

God of time and timelessness we pray this in Your name,

Amen.

Exiles from a Long-Ago Garden

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We live in a world of exiles. So many are torn from their homeland:;family and places becoming a distant memory. We think of the Israelites who ‘ hung up their harps and wept’ in their exile, their hearts broken and torn. Even when we make a move across our own country there is a feeling of loss and disconnection. We leave behind neighbours and communities, before we are able to make new. Our hearts mourn for our modern-day exiles, fleeing to a safer, lonelier place; family killed or left behind, heritage shattered..

In a sense we are all aliens. This world is not the end of our journey. Earth is not our home, we’re just passing through. St Augustine says ‘You made us for Yourselves, Oh, Lord, our heart is restless until in rests in You.’ We are indeed exiles from a long-ago garden and we have not yet reached the Celestial City.

Labyrinths and Pilgrimages

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The power of walking in labyrinths and along pilgrimages is not the act of walking but of meeting God along the way. To explore a labyrinth tends to be a solitary experience while pilgrimages are often more communal. They are opportunities to slow down, time to think and contemplate while spending time with God. In our hurried world God has given us the gift of time, time to spend how we wish.

As our hours extend into days, to months, to decades has our walk been leading us closer to God or away? Are we walking towards the time when time will be no more? All our life is a walk, up the difficult hills, down the slippery slopes or along even ground. It is a walk we can’t and mustn’t do alone. We don’t know the way, we need a guide.