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Mike's Manse Message |
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May 2008
Dear friendsThe story goes of three young boys were walking along arguing over whose dad was the greatest. One said, "My dad is the greatest because he is the president of the town bank." The second boy said, "That is pretty good, but my dad owns two stores in town!" The third boy said, "That's nothing, my dad is a Minister, and he owns hell. He came home last night and told my mum that the Church Council gave it to him!" How do you cope with adversity? Life can be difficult for us all at times; we have our disappointments, our hurts, our sense of failure and sometimes we don't know which way to turn. It happens to us all at times (trust me, Ministers are no different). Lets be honest, life can feel like hell at times. The late Malcolm Muggeridge once said of adversity "Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that at the time seemed especially desolating and painful with particular satisfaction. Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my 75 years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my experience, has been through affliction and not through happiness."I'm not one who believes that God sends suffering or difficulty to test us, but I do believe that in our hardest times God can help us and teach us. That is to say that sometimes we have to be at our lowest before God can step in and move us forward. And that moving forward is always a learning curve if we allow it to be. So how does God help us in times of trouble? Well from my experience nearly always through other people. The kindly word, the offer of help, the sharing of troubles. If we deny others the opportunity to help us then we are denying God his chosen way of bringing us through adversity. Secondly, I believe that God helps in times of trouble through Scripture. The Bible really is our guidebook for life and in it we find all sorts of direction and guidance for how to deal with particular troubles. Too often we fail to read our Scriptures, which are our primary source of revelation about the Lord Jesus Christ. Thirdly, God helps in Worship. It's in Worship that we find the opportunity to sing praises reminding ourselves of the goodness of God, sing encouraging songs reminding ourselves of His blessings and its in Worship that we can truly be the people He created us to be. Fourthly, God helps us in prayer. When was the last time you simply sat and listened to Him, not doing anything but sitting quietly listening for that still, small voice? Martin Luther gave great importance to simply sitting in prayer, saying , "The fewer the words, the better the prayer. To have prayed well is to have studied well."It is in prayer and spending time with God that we receive His comfort and assurance. Finally, none of these are in any particular order. Indeed they work best when jumbled up. One day may be a prayer day and another when you can do nothing but rely on friends and family. The important thing is that God has given us ways in which he can help and teach us through adversity. Friends if you are facing great difficulty at the moment, or are in a position of worry and anxiety let God help you and let Him carry you through this so that you may emerge a stronger and better person. Your friend in Christ,  |
© 2008 Reverend Michael Redshaw |
