Be Still And Know

Psalm 44:5-7a NLT 'Only by your power can we push back our enemies; only in your name can we trample our foes. I do not trust in my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me. You are the one who gives us victory over our enemies…' My parents were always keen to build my self-confidence. I was encouraged to believe I could achieve what I wanted to. However, my father was told by my secondary school that I wouldn’t achieve the exam results to make A level study worthwhile. Somehow, I scraped sufficient GCE passes to stay on, and then proceeded to flourish, perhaps digging deep and finding the undiscovered learner within me. This taught me my destiny lay within my own hands, a lesson deeply etched into my consciousness through experience. However, my confidence, when placed entirely in myself, easily blinds me to God’s provision. Faced with a problem, I set about drawing on my experience and known strengths to combat and overcome it. Typically, I run out of ideas and I feel overwhelmed. This undermines my self-

Psalm 44:1 NLT 'O God, we have heard it with our own ears – our ancestors have told us of all you did in their day, in days long ago.' I was recently explaining to a young priest why my  train fares were discounted due to my senior railcard. Joking about my age and its benefits, he added other attributes that are to be appreciated that can come with age, including wisdom. Of course, getting old doesn’t automatically result in greater wisdom, but it can help. There is a great wisdom accumulated over centuries by the Church and its members. In my youth, I was often dismissive of those who had passed through life ahead of me. I assumed my skin-deep understanding of God and his ways was sufficient for me. Understanding is not built upon dismissing those who have passed through life before us. While I might construct a different perspective on history in contrast to earlier historians, I am not in a position simply to ignore their disciplined efforts in interpreting the past. Even though the Spirit still speaks to

Luke 24:31-33a NLT Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared! They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” And within the hour they were on their way back to Jerusalem. The disciples who encountered Jesus after his resurrection record a number of different experiences. Despite the differences, they were all clear meetings, usually unexpected. Certainly, arriving at their home in Emmaus, these two disciples encountered the unexpected. Life takes on the character of an adventure when you are a follower of Jesus. When the odds appear stacked against us, we can choose to sink beneath them or call out in prayer and look for the unexpected. This is a measure of our resilience, our ability to return to the shape we were created to be; that is dependent upon God alone. This takes courage and a willingness to surrender control over my own destiny. These two disciples had left Jerusalem

Luke 24:15-16 NLT 'As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him.' The pursuit of God is a journey. We are invited to travel its winding pathway in conversation with God, who is always with us. The challenge is that we may not always recognise God’s presence. Another complicating factor is that what once seemed so clear when I first determined to follow Jesus becomes confused when faced with the realities of life’s many challenges. Here, two followers of Jesus begin their walk home to Emmaus when an apparent stranger falls into step alongside them. They fail to recognise it is Jesus, in part because they know Jesus has been killed and, like the disciples, have no experience and little expectation that Jesus has risen from the dead. We all have to learn that God is free from the constraints of mortal life and can intervene in unexpected and surprising ways. Having expressed their bitter disappointment at recent events,

Luke 24:12 NLT 'However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened.' Peter, the impetuous disciple, the one Jesus identified as the foundation for the Church, is unhappy simply with dismissing the women’s account. So he goes to check the grave out for himself. All is as they reported, although no angels remained to give him any directions. Having carefully checked the space out he returns full of wonder. Wonder is a brilliant asset for any disciple. Peter no doubt recalls Jesus’ teaching, so confusing at times, and the promise of the resurrection. He, perhaps more than most, was desperate to address the guilt of his own denial. Faith seldom offers us clear and unequivocal answers. While the scripture that God neither fails nor forsakes us is true, discovering its practical reality when tragedy strikes is a process of wonder. Many questions rise to the forefront of our minds and we are left to pond

Luke 24:9-11 NLT 'So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples – and...told the apostles what had happened. But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it.' Like the male disciples, I am sure I would have dismissed the women’s tale. Like the disciples, Jesus confronts my denial through personal encounter. The Easter message proclaims that we can encounter the risen Christ today. Christianity is not a series of beliefs, it is a relationship with God that we are freely invited to benefit from. We may encounter Jesus in every situation we face, if we first accept that he has risen from the dead. Of course, if we seek to establish this upon the basis of material proof alone, we shall be forever seeking and never finding. While there is a rational case to be made for the resurrection, its reality demands faith; that is moving beyond rationality. I have been happily married twice. My first wife died and I subsequently remarried. While I can describe a list of objective r

Luke 24:5b-7 NLT 'Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.' Throughout my life, since leaving my parental home, I have carried a box of precious things. These are items that carry special meaning for me. There is nothing remarkable among them, save the personal memories they carry. That box is now in my loft, since I do not return to it on a regular basis. I know where it is, just as the women thought they knew where Jesus was. Dr Luke reminds us that the presence of God is ever-moving. We have to remain alert to ensure we are pursuing that presence and not assuming we can settle for what we think that we know. Whenever we assume that we have taken hold of God, we are in danger. We can easily move our gaze from God to the many distractions life presents, and wake up one day to

Isaiah 53:12 NLT 'I will give him the honours of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.' In today’s world we are fixated with celebrity culture, fascinated by the lives of regular people living irregular lives. We are in danger of concluding that the extraordinary is desirable and attainable. Yet, if Jesus offers a pattern for our lives, we gaze on one about whom “There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected – a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief” (Isaiah 53:2b-3a, NLT). So often we make an assumption that success and significance are joined together. Yet, Jesus reveals significance is living in humble obedience to God. My most recent challenge has been around surrender, offering my body, mind and spirit to God to do whatever he chooses. Success is the degree to which I am happily surrendered to God. It may feel like hum

Luke 21:3-4 NLT “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.” “You can only do your best” is a popular phrase we regularly use to encourage others. It suggests that so long as we put everything we have into whatever it is that is asked of us, that is sufficient. It addresses attitude, and it is always attitude that interests God. It is not the external reality but the internal heart that God considers. This widow quietly made her way to the temple and contributed the smallest amount to the offering; yet for her it was everything she had – something God acknowledged and applauded. This gift was not given under duress nor from any sense of obligation, but from a willing heart that knew the reality of God. UK households are in debt at historic levels of an average of £15,385 owed to credit card firms, banks and other lenders, a combined total of £428bn. If we

Luke 20:1-2 NLT One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?” Jesus disturbed the world in which he lived. Those used to exercising power, religious and secular, were surprised by his impact and influence. They were heavily invested in the status quo and questioned Jesus’ authority to behave in the way that he did. Jesus always disturbs us because he is not bound by current social conventions. God is a God of surprises. The moment we think we have grasped hold of God with some inspired construct, theological or experiential, we discover, like the disciples, that Jesus has moved on and we must make every effort to follow him. A domesticated faith quickly loses its essence. This is the forever unfolding revelation of God, who wants to be known within the spaces where we find ourselves. True leadership r

Luke 19:45-47 NLT 'Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” After that, he taught daily in the Temple…' There is a great wave of satisfaction following a genuine clear-out. The challenge of downsizing is that many things carry meaningful memories. It is the memories associated with them that are hard to give away. In the famous story of the cleansing of the temple, Jesus drives out the moneychangers as well as the animals they were selling for sacrifice. This was a prophetic act, more than a social and political one. Jesus was headed for the cross, where a whole new relationship between God and humanity was born. As such we would no longer need to bring physical sacrifices to make peace between ourselves and God. We became the living sacrifices whose lives revealed the truth of God on earth. The problem remains, however, that it

Luke 19:36-37 NLT 'As he rode along, the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him. When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.' Today we begin a short series of readings that leads us into Easter. On Palm Sunday a jubilant crowd celebrated Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem. Only the Pharisees attempted to pour cold water on Jesus’ parade of praise. Scripture teaches that God inhabits the people’s praises (Psalm 22:3). It’s why we lift up our voices in hymns, psalms and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19). Christianity is a celebratory faith. Here, though the crowd may not have understood the significance, the King was making his progress towards his enthronement. This was a truly special event in the making. Over the next few days we shall see Jesus take up his position as King and Lord of all. Even as the days ahead are marked with sadness, they are

Psalm 130:5-6 NLT 'I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word. I long for the Lord more than sentries long for the dawn, yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.' Waiting demands trust. It is easy to place my hope in God’s word. It is clear and expresses God’s commitment to me and the basis upon which that commitment is built. Intellectually I get it. Trust, however, is more than a mental exercise. It demands that I withstand the assault of my fears and disappointments by clinging to the hope God’s promise offers me. If you are restless and impatient, as I have been for many years, then the waiting appears impossible to endure. Trust evaporates and is easily replaced by complaint and blame. On more occasions than I like to admit, my faith has shrivelled under the pressure of life’s realities. Courage has left me, to be replaced by panic. This in turn has given rise to anger with God. God confirms that waiting will always have its due reward. Like night must give way

Romans 12:12 NLT 'Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.' Self-esteem and confidence are seen as key measures of our well-being. Our self-esteem can be dented by various mishaps; from social and economic factors through educational experiences and our relationships. Low self-esteem can reduce our ability to handle future challenges. Unexpectedly cast into the role of a primary carer in my late 30s, I suffered a collapse in my self-confidence. How was I to navigate this new, unfamiliar and unwanted path? It was clear that my hope in God was located in the immediate realities of my life, rather than any abiding reality that lay beyond my life experience now. And how might something that seemed so disconnected from my immediate experience be of any encouragement or help in the here and now? It was a season for discovering the realities of, and the benefits derived from, patience. Patience is the “quality of being willing to bear adversities, a calm endurance of misfortune”. I

Psalm 25:4-5 NLT 'Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me.' For many years. I lived in fear of disappointing God and messing up my life by straying from God’s path onto the wrong road. Slowly I learned that God was not some cosmic police chief breathing down my neck, waiting to pounce upon the slightest misdemeanour. Rather, God invited me to live my life trusting in his goodness and promise of life in abundance. Today, travel has been simplified with SatNav. No longer do I need to pore over maps and minutely plan my journey. Meticulous planning was still no guarantee of a journey without diversions and distractions. My worst delay followed taking a wrong turn near Pendle Hill. The weather was atrocious, it was late at night and I was driving back to my home in the Midlands. I knew I was lost and every turn I took simply added to my confusion. Words can’t describe my feelings of relief when, by chance, I turned o

1 John 3:2 NLT 'Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.' You are composed of three interlocking aspects, which affects who you are. Some factors that have affected your life you had no control over – for example, you did not select your parents. As you grew, you became increasingly complicit in the decisions that directly affected you – for example, you chose friends and took decisions on how you treated them. The third aspect, like a seed awaiting germination, is the essence of who God created you to be, which we spend a lifetime choosing how much to explore. Over time, we run into the consequences of choices made for us as well as those we make for ourselves. Some are positively detrimental to my realising the God essence within me. These choices lay the soil within which this Godseed was expected to both grow and flourish. The soil itself was not naturally

Psalm 25:4-5 NLT 'Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.' Waiting has negative associations today. Western society expects instant results or access, whether it is medical results, superfast broadband access to the internet – even finding a suitable partner has been reduced to ‘speed dating’ so that we can budget our emotional energy effectively. It’s all too easy to offer up a morning prayer for guidance – “show me the right path” – and anticipate we will have God’s response by sunset. We soon learn that God does not subscribe to a consumer mindset. Ease of access and mass supply is not one of God’s attributes. In this way, God appears quite old-fashioned. More like the ironmongers my dad took me to as a child, where he and the shopkeeper ferreted around for ages, looking for a screw to match the one Dad was seeking to replace. This was the very antipathy of newer DIY stores,

1 Peter 1:3-4 NLT 'All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance – an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.' I am greatly helped when thinking of blessing, both as an act of praise to God (and therefore to “bless God”) and as a receiving of help from God through the prayers of the Church (the act of giving and receiving blessings). It is in these ways that we “become blessings” for one another and offer blessings to God – by living true to who God has made us as his people. Learning to give thanks, to bless God and others, in seasons of plenty and seasons of want, gives a positive appreciation of God in all of life. That positive foundation becomes essential when life puts the squeeze on us. Ultimately, our destiny, as today’s scripture reminds us, is secure because

Psalm 96:1-3 NLT 'Sing a new song to the Lord! Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! Sing to the Lord; praise his name. Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.' One of my life’s great challenges is to avoid stagnation; the tendency to put off decisions, avoiding what must be done, to let relationships and activity drop, which in the past I compensated for by comfort eating or investing a lot of time in meaningless activities. In such a slough, I realised that a lot of my ‘purpose’ was defined by what I did and was measured against how other people navigated life. I was losing self-confidence and any reason for living. I needed to reassess who and where I was in life and rediscover my primary reason for living. What I needed was a new song, a fresh refrain for life. I returned to God and began to take God’s declarations seriously. I considered how seriously I wanted to take God at his word, and what that might

Psalm 16:7-9 NLT 'I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety.' Unlike the psalmist, I cannot with authentically claim that “I will not be shaken”. At times, I really struggle with the challenges life brings. Clinging to God, I acknowledge God is “right beside me”, even if I cannot always sense that presence. This is the nature of faith; something unseen, yet factual and reliable. So, I place my confidence in this unseen truth ahead of my perceptions and their many attendant anxieties. For every crisis I survive, and there have been so many, while I give thanks and even formulate a testimony of gratitude, I know further tests lie around some future corner. The ultimate reality of blessing lies in the fact that I can live at rest with myself, my circumstances and my future. So, I am invited, and consistently instructed by the Holy S