Mail from the Manse October 2021
Dear Friends
When we are in a hurry, we don’t always appreciate the things that stand in our way forcing us to slow down. Like a motorway sign flashing out the message ‘Long queues ahead’ or a day feeling under the weather when there are deadlines to meet. Having to reduce speed for such things can be a blow to our schedule, but sometimes the Lord Himself needs to slow us down just to make sure we stay in tune and on track with Him.
He is our great shepherd and as David reminds us in Psalm 23, His care is sufficient for all the needs we have. To restore our souls and keep us refreshed in His will for our lives however means that we like David will find ourselves at times having to admit, “He makes me lie down in green pastures.”
God has His ways of putting the brakes on us and slowing us down. A visit to the doctor, a problem beyond our solving, an emergency in the life of someone we love, or bad financial news. It could be any dramatic change that we never could have anticipated, but which brings us to a sudden halt! Maybe that is exactly where you are right now?
Maybe you have been packing more and more into your life, trying to balance demands from every direction or trying to make things happen. Suddenly, you are made to lie down, and the wheels have come off. Muttering about it and hitting the horn in frustration is always a temptation, but perhaps these will turn out to be the green pastures God had led us to! To have us lie down, stop awhile, rest in Him and be open to what He is wanting to say to us and do in us there.
God knows our need for quiet waters and maybe He knows that we cannot keep going at the pace we have been going if we are to enjoy the journey and be as fun and as fruitful as He dearly made us to be.
It is easy when we are in a hurry to run over people or past them when they may need us the most. It is common to measure our worth by our work and think there is nothing more important than climbing the career ladder. Thankfully, God can use all manner of things to slow us down to lovingly refocus us on what truly does matter and restore us to what we can’t afford to miss.
The queue of traffic may be long, and the deadline may be getting nearer, but God maybe slowing us up just in time for the care and construction job, He has in mind for us. Somethings may not look like green pastures initially, more like a nuisance to us or neglect of us. If, however, they afford us the opportunity to be still and know that God is God, then they are stops worth putting the brakes on for.
On Sunday, 10th October at 7:30 in the Church grab the chance to lie down in green pastures and come along with all the friends you have invited to listen to a hope filled concert by Sharon Tedford from the USA.
Your Friend and Pastor – Shaun