As I sit here four non-christians are just round the corner from me in a prayer room. They've gone there out of their own application and are exploring the stations, visual stimulus, chilled ambience and focussing music - they are attracted by the calm and the sanctity - and the tantili
sing anticipation that there is more here than even the eye can see. They are being prayed for in turn by the two Christians teenage lads there with them. One of whom has only really discovered God himself in the last two months.
sing anticipation that there is more here than even the eye can see. They are being prayed for in turn by the two Christians teenage lads there with them. One of whom has only really discovered God himself in the last two months.Earlier today I was at an off timetable day for Y7's in the Peak district... at one point one of the teams I was helping with had to get around a course on two planks with a couple of bits of rope attached - big old plankish skis if you will... As they practised they got a rhthym: left leg up (yank plank forward) everyone swap legs (other plank is yanked forward). They got quite a head of steam up. Then came the race against the other team. The other team had a slightly different technique - they looked confident - they sounded courageous... My team choked. Everyone lifted the wrong left foot at the wrong time - people fell, people tripped, people shouted and people looked glum. The other team charged ahead. "What went wrong?" Cried the instructor?
"We panicked" said one lad. "We were impatient said another." "We lost our cool."
The reason my tea tonight goes quietly cold is because I began to panic. A phone call from my young friend about him and his friends in the prayer room tempted me to lose my cool - is it ok? Is it safe? What should he do? But even mpre than that I felt a sudden rising impulse to pray like mad. Of course that is correct! But I prayed quickly - I prayed with both feet on both planks at once... I cried out in case it went wrong - I beseeched in case it all came unstuck... Then God quietly reminded me of the giant ski race and I began to calm; realising that with God there is no panic. With God the whole of time is in his hands. With God all desires and longings are safely known. God never panics, He never gets impatient, he never cries out faster or louder due to nervousness. Faith is secure. The power of the Spirit is sturdy and not hinging on how much anguish is laden into my pleading petitions.
What's more God sees my heart - and he knows I tip away my proud old supper for one moment of his presence to invade that room. My life is like my cous cous tea - I have offered it on a plate for God to do with as he wishes. My great delight is that he does not leave me on the side to go cold while he panics elsewhere - God's faith is safe, sturdy and consistently passionate. All things are in his hands. My efforts in mission will be messy and safety and calmess I cannot necessarily expect - but that God endures; that he reigns... is more sure than that Jamie Oliver is a great chef.
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