This is a Biggy!

As an engineer I had to adapt my basic engineering skills to various environments, such as power generation, road building, multi-story concrete structures and tunnelling etc.

This was especially so when I was employed in the water industry. In our regional water company there was a full mixture of disciplines, such as chemical, biological, electronic, electrical, mechanical - apart from my own civil and structural - some of which were foreign to me. Quite often I received a phone call in the middle of the night concerning an emergency situation and looking to me to put the matter right.

One one occasion, after driving to a large works wondering what I was going to find, I was met by an enthusiastic technician who liked a challenge. He was rubbing his hands exclaiming, ‘this is a biggy!’ By that he meant that it seemed risky and complicated, we hadn’t experienced it before and if the wrong decision was made the repercussions could be wide-reaching. In these circumstances, a colleague and I used to pray, handing over the whole situation to God. We asked Him for wisdom and to bring into the light whatever was hidden. We wouldn’t tell anyone that it seemed on occasion a whole city’s water supply was dependant upon prayer. Sometimes the project was really big and we had to take it step by step, hour by hour and day by day until we got through. He never ever let us down.

I find that God is continually allowing situations in my life where I haven’t been before. Circumstances that seem bigger and riskier than ever. My only way of dealing with it, once I've got over the intial shock, is to get back to basics and put my whole trust in God. It’s only afterwards that I realise once again, that nothing is too big or too difficult for Him.

As the song goes:

Ah Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens
And the earth by Thy great power
Ah Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens
And the earth by Thine outstretched arm.
Nothing is too difficult for Thee
Nothing is too difficult for Thee

“Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You.” Jeremiah 32:17 NASB

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God's Creation In Our Lives

Our garden is semi-wild, with views of countryside and sea and is a real delight to us. It's not always been that way though. When we first arrived we had to work long and hard to construct terraces and plant it out. However, because it is steep and takes the brunt of the salt-laden south westerlies from the Atlantic, it's a hostile environment and many of the plants didn't survive.

Not to be put off, I cleared one of the largest beds and started over again. First of all I weeded it thoroughly before preparing the soil by digging deep and raking it over. Because the winter was much wetter than usual, I wasn't able to do any more to it until spring. It was then that we found a variety of plants shooting up. Intrigued, we decided to wait and see what developed. Several weeks later we had a splendid display of unusual wild flowers, some of which we had never seen or even heard of before. Majestic foxgloves, tall fluffy Mullein Verbascum thapsus Scrophulariaceae, the delicate Solomon's SealPolygonatum officinale Liliaceae, wild strawberries and of course primroses.

The seeds had been there all the time, waiting for the right moment. Just think, all that was created without us having to do anything, other than prepare the soil! God knew better than us what would thrive in the environment of our garden.

God is the great Creator. If we are yielded to God and allow Him to cleanse and prepare the soil of our lives, we will experience His working in our lives in ways that we never thought possible and with the minimum of effort and stress.

"For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him." Colossians 1:16 New International Version

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Praise Ye The Lord!

We can learn so much from children. One of our little granddaughters came up to me the other day and said "I love you Grandad." The next day when I came down for breakfast the other said, "You do look handsome!" It warmed me and I responded in kind. All this is natural I'm sure, but it made me think about the subject of praise and I offer these very random thoughts.

The word 'praise' appears nearly 300 times in the Bible, mostly urging or inviting us to praise God. It's also written into the liturgies of our historic churches. I remember attending services where the minister announced, "Praise ye the Lord" and the congregation's ragged monotone response came, "The Lord's name be praised!" You could be forgiven for thinking it was the milkman being welcomed. On the other extreme we have been in meetings where the response came in the form of a spontaneous personal outburst of cheering and tumultuous applause, for an awesome and loving God.

But what about praise in our personal walk with God?

I've often held back through a fear of pretending, because I wanted my praise to be an honest heart response. But sometimes I just speak out what I know to be true. Sometimes I've felt my love didn't amount to much, but offered God what I saw as my puny capacity to love. After all I was only giving back to Him what He had given me. We are instructed to praise God in all things. But when my wife was carted off to hospital with a broken leg and arm and goodness knows what else, I didn't thank God for what was happening because that just wouldn't have been honest. But I did thank Him in faith - and desperation - that He was with us in the situation and would see us through. And He did, in an amazing way!

Once, during a lunch break at work, I met with a colleague in a small room, just to share and pray. We didn't know how to start, but made seemingly childlike offerings. Almost immediately we experienced a great warmth spreading through us. So much so, that we felt we ought to open the window to cool things off, until we realised what was happening. We just knew He was with us and what followed was a precious time of sharing.

Praise changes things. When we acknowledge God, express our appreciation, make a heart response to His love, things happen in the spiritual realm. We enter into a realisation of His presence, all enemy opposition is demolished, Father God is warmed, we are encouraged, our faith is built up and power is released. Perhaps we should do it more often?

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100:4-5 New International Version

"Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in." Psalm 24:7 New International Version

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The Master Builder

I'm quite handy, so when we needed to alter the lighting in our living room, I decided to do it myself.

I climbed into the loft and checked out the circuits to make sure I knew what was what. Everything seemed to be going fine, except that there was more to it than I expected and I was running late. When I came to switch the power back on the fuse blew, so I double checked. The fuse blew again. I mulled over what I had done and could see nothing wrong. I kept going through it over and over in my mind, until I couldn't switch off - pardon the pun. In the end, feeling washed out, I had to leave it, without lights in part of the house.

I called an electrician the next morning and amazingly, he came in under two hours. He checked everything through and said there was nothing wrong, I'd done a good job. However, further investigation discovered a completely unrelated coincidental problem, that he put right.

Now all this may seem unimportant, but I had something to learn, because God is into small things. It wasn’t the fact I had done it wrong, but I had not done it God’s way. I may be able to do a variety of things, but God made me for a specific purpose. That evening we had a very important 'God-arranged' appointment and that was my top priority. In the event everything went fine, but only just!

I used to quote this verse "If the Lord builds the house - " thinking that so long as you are a Christian that's all that's needed. But of course it has to be worked out, we have to walk the walk. If we put God first in complete surrender, so that He is in control of our marriages, families and relationships, then we open ourselves to His magnificent efficient provision, otherwise we wear ourselves out to no avail.

It's the same in church life. Some years ago mission events and activities had been held in our area. Although they were well organised and had been successful on other cities, they were not working for us. They were not bearing fruit. Several of us met in prayer to seek what God had to say about it. The reply came loud and clear, that God was not in our good ideas:

"You have worn yourselves out doing it your way, now let it all go and try My way!"

"Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labour in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for he grants sleep to those he loves." Psalm 127:1-2 New International Version

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Don't Keep Me Out

I was brought up to believe that for some things I had to go it alone. This was especially true where strong negative emotions or difficult and scary situations were concerned. The boyhood phrases that come to mind are, 'pull up your socks' and 'put your best foot forward,'or 'grit your teeth and keep smiling.' It led me think at such times, that there was no one there for me.

When I became a Christian my eyes were opened to the reality that I had a real friend in Jesus, who wanted to be involved in my life. More than that, I came to know a loving Father who was much more than an earthly father ever could be. However as the years went by there was an dependant spirit that I needed to be broken from. That 'do-it-yourself' attitude - I had invented DIY long before it was common place - had to change and I needed to be more dependant upon God.

Even though we may be adults, there can be times when we may feel like a hurting child. He want us to come to him with child-like faith and let Him in. He wants to share our grief, even grieve with us and bring us through to a beautiful place. He understand our anger and say it's OK to be angry, let's talk about it. He wants to cry with and laugh with us. He sees how our bottling things up and keeping Him out can hold us back and even disable us. When we are in sticky situations, he wants us to reach out for Him, rather than try and do it all on our own.

He doesn't just want us to cope, He wants us to have big expectations and soar with Him

"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Luke 18:17 New International Version

"Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:4 New International Version

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Don't Forget the Journey

I always liked to have a project on the go, whether it was a new job, a challenge at work, a house extension to build or just planning a holiday away. I enjoyed the planning, but once I was under way, I was keen to achieve my goal and then move on to something new.

My attitude began to change as God allowed difficult circumstances in my life, that slowed me down. I began to learn first hand that the journey was at least as important as getting there. My legs were stronger then and I took to walking in the hills. I loved conquering the mountain peaks, but also marvelled at the changing scenery of God's creation on the way and took time to reflect during the climb.

One day an acquaintance asked me to join him on one of his regular walks. Although he was older than me, he was fitter and walked at a cracking pace. It was all I could do to keep up with him, as he strode on ahead to take the lead. We stormed past banks of daffodils in full bloom and hardly gave the glistening lake below a second glance. I suggested a break, but within a minute he was off again, without even a glance at the profusion of wild flowers, let alone the opportunity to chat together. It seemed like we had completed the eight-mile trek in no time. He bid me farewell, leaving me breathless. I felt we had missed out on something precious.

I remember an old lady in our village. She always left her visit to the local store until the last minute in the evening. In her headlong rush to get there before closing time, her head was pushed in front of her body. You could say that her head got there before her heart!

We need to be certain of our destiny, but it's the journey that matters. It's the heart-to-heart relationship with Jesus that makes the difference. Sometimes we have to slow down, or be slowed down, in order to move forward.

"It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end." - Ursula LeGuin

"You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God." Psalm 119:1 The Message Bible

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Bring it into the light

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5 ESV)

Is there anything in your life that you're hiding away? Some feeling or memory from the past, a problem that looms large? Are you putting off looking at it, perhaps because of fear, afraid of what you might find?

We don’t often go into the back of our cellar, it’s dark and cramped.

However, when our plumbing needed attention, our son crawled in to check. He was in for a surprise! He found mushrooms growing on the wall below our bathroom. Removing the side panel of the bath and peeking inside, I realised it was in danger of sinking through the floor. I quickly replaced the panel, thinking that, what’s hidden will be forgotten. To be honest, I was a bit scared of what else I might find and what might be entailed putting it right.

Somehow, I found the courage to face the mountain. I disconnected the heavy cast iron bath and heaved it outside - I should have sought help for that bit! This revealed rotten wood, which I cut out, treated what remained, and replaced with new flooring. Despite two days of inconvenience for the family, everything was re-plumbed and the job complete. I felt stimulated and satisfied, grateful for the gifts and help God had given me.

I’ve been guilty of being in denial in the past. Sweeping fears under the carpet, hoping they would go away. They didn’t of course! They festered and affected my life, stopping me living to the full. With some help at first, I faced the fears and pain with Jesus. Once in the Light, the fears melted away as Jesus gently washed and cleansed the wound, making me new again.

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Nestle not Wrestle

"I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, ....... I will look for those that are lost, bring back those that wander off, bandage those that are hurt, and heal those that are sick ….” (Ezekiel 34:15-16 GNB)

Driving over the hill to a meeting in the next village, my wife sensed movement in the hedgerow. On investigation, we found a newborn lamb caught up in brambles. It had strayed from its mother and fallen through a gap in the hedge. From its sorry state, it must have hung there some time. Our hearts went out to this little fearful one. We longed to set it free, so it could live.

Speaking ever so gently to reassure, we approached and I tried to cut through the brambles with a craft knife. Unfortunately it wouldn’t keep still and allow me to make the delicate incision. The more I tried, the more it struggled, and the more it struggled, the more the chords tightened around its body and limbs. It was petrified with terror. Eventually it became so exhausted it gave in and allowed me to cut it free. I cradled it in my arms and carried it around to the field entrance and placed it on a bed of straw for its mother to care for.

Any of this sound familiar?

The little compassion we displayed that evening is nothing compared with the immense love Jesus, our Shepherd feels for us. It must really hurt Him when we struggle on our own. If only we would always allow Him to have His way in our lives and sort out our entanglements. He longs for us to Trust Him and expose our wounds, for the Shepherd to gently cleanse and heal.

I am learning to ‘nestle’ and not ‘wrestle.’

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