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Thoughts for the week leading up to Candidates’ Sunday (3 May 2020)Streams in the DesertI feel like I’m in a desert. Not because I’m without water. Not because the sun has been shining. Not because I have a sand dune in my back garden. But because, like the Israelites, I feel directionless and a bit lost and my soul feels parched. Yes, there are some wonderful uplifting songs and words online but in some ways that only serves to reinforce how hard it is being away from other people. And from talking to others, many of us feel the same way.Yet when I read the Bible it is clear that God speaks when his people are in the desert. And as God is speaking to me in these desert days I find myself far more aware and responsive. Maybe the comparative quiet, the lack of distractions and the time and space to review and reflect, mean that I can give more of myself to Him. “This is what the Lord says…….. Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43 v 18 – 19I believe that God has some really important things to say to us in these days. What is this new thing he is doing now? Which former things should I let go?What is God saying to you in your desert?God speaks to me in the silence of my spiritWhen in the twilight alone I sit apartI hear him calling and tender are his accentsCome to thy Saviour, who pardon can impartGod speaks to me in the silence of my spiritWhen in the twilight alone I sit apartTake it to the Lord in PrayerWhen we think about taking something to God in prayer, it is generally a problem, or hardship or difficult decision. At what point do we take something to him when he wants us to, rather than when we want to? If we think of prayer only as an opportunity for us to tell God how we feel, what we’re sorry for, what we need, then that point is unlikely to come. But when we treat prayer as a conversation then we are more likely to be surprised and delighted by its outcome, because God has had a chance to input to it rather than just listen to us.How do you allow God to speak when you pray?For some, God will speak in a clear “voice” in their head but we may have to use other senses to get the message. Use your eyes – a special view or a picture that provokes your thoughts and ideas and imagination. Use your nose, maybe with a scented candle or the smell of spring on your daily walk or from your window or balcony. Use anything that has the potential to touch you deeply and open your whole being to God. It has often been said that God already knows what we need and how we feel before we pray to him but we won’t know what he wants to say to us unless we put ourselves into a space and frame of mind that works for us.To use a modern analogy, if God seems silent, maybe you’ve put him on mute.“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” Psalm 143 v 8A place of safetyAre you a risk taker or do you prefer security? Risk takers would be prepared to invest money in a project where they could gain a huge amount or they could lose everything. A risk taker enjoys bungee-jumping or roller coasters and some risk takers will commit crimes in the hope that they won’t get caught.Even if you believe you are a risk-taker, you probably wouldn’t consider a bungee jump with people you hadn’t first checked out in terms of safety record or insurance. You wouldn’t go on a roller coaster that had no safety bars. And you probably wouldn’t invest money in something you had done no research on first. It is natural to look for some form of security in life. Along with air, food, water and clothing, shelter is considered one of our most basic physiological needs. And after those are fulfilled, safety is the next level of need to be satisfied. Human beings have an instinct for survival and once they have food and water they will look for shelter – a house, a tent, a cave – to keep us safe.Where do you feel safe? At the moment safety is at home, safety is staying away from other people, safety is trusting experts.God also offers a place of safety. “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? ……..One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in this day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.” Psalm 27 v 1, 4-5Pressing the reset buttonWe are seeing reports of nature reclaiming our earth now that there is reduced movement and impact of people. Animals that usually inhabit rural areas have been seen in towns and on major roads all over the world. We can hear sounds that are usually drowned out by traffic and smell flowers because we have more time to stop and appreciate their beauty. Is this nature’s (or God’s if you have a faith) way of pressing the reset button, reminding us of how life was meant to be and the elements of it that are truly important?Maybe there are other things that need re-booting - does the Christian church need to reset and consider what its mission is? The current situation is forcing us to think differently and we may never be the same again. Ministers are spending more time talking to their congregations, congregations are spending more time supporting one another both practically and prayerfully and Christians are being light and salt in a world that needs a massive dose of God’s love. Wasn’t this how the church was always meant to be? The popular TV programme “The Repair Shop” shows a team of talented and skilled craftsmen take articles that are often dirty, broken or with missing parts, and restore them, as far as possible, to their original glory. The joy this brings the owners can frequently be touching and sometimes overwhelming. This is what God does when we place our broken lives in his hands – he restores us and in doing so we bring him great joy.Perhaps we need to “restore factory settings” – put ourselves back to what the Creator wants us to be and equips us to be. Who knows what we might see in a reset church.“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” 1 Peter 5 v 10 ................
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