Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 12/December/2021]

Several weeks ago, when I was feeling wounded by my experiences of respite fostering and thinking of giving up, I asked God to show me clearly if he wanted me to continue. Within a day I received 3 signs that I should carry on, one of which was finding the poem below, written by Amy Carmichael, who worked as a missionary for many years in India.

Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I see thee sung as mighty in the land;
I hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star.
Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers; spent,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; I swooned
And was rent by ravening beasts that compassed Me,
Hast thou no wound?

No wound? No scar?
Yet, as the Master must the servant be,
And piercèd are the feet that follow Me.
But thine are whole; can he have followed far
Who hast no wound or scar?

Jesus said: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world”
[John 16 v33 NIVUK]

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[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 05/December/2021]

I have always been fascinated by adoption and fostering, devouring every book I could find on the subject. At age 11 my favourite fantasy was about a big family with 6 birth children, 3 adoptees and 3 foster children. The adopted and foster children had joined the family at different ages, from babyhood to age 12.

When I joined the adoption community more than 20 years later, I met families quite as remarkable as the one of my childhood fantasy. One lady found herself alone after her birth children had grown up and her husband left her. She asked God what she should do and soon after that she saw an appeal for adopters and went on to adopt a little girl profoundly disabled with cerebral palsy and a teenage boy with learning disabilities. She also fostered 2 more teenage boys. Since then my own cousin has built a family with a mixture of birth, adopted and foster children. Whilst I have no birth children, it has been a huge privilege to bring up 2 adopted sons and more recently offer short term care to young people as a volunteer host. Last year I felt that God was calling me to be a respite foster carer, but after one very difficult placement, followed by another which seemed to be going well but suddenly broke down, I felt too bruised to continue and wondered whether I should stick to hosting. I was then asked to host a 16 year old who they felt was a perfect match for me and within a week of her arrival I agreed to be her full time foster carer, something I never thought I could do, especially at age 65, but God’s timing is perfect.

In many ways the church is like the big mixed family of my childhood imagination. We all join the family at different ages. Some have been very damaged by their previous experiences and need special care and love. Others, who have been in the family since babyhood, may find it hard to understand why those who join it later struggle to fit in, yet I believe that God has a special place in his heart for the most difficult and damaged people who come into his family and in his eyes no-one is unadoptable.

1 John 3 v 1 says: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

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Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
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[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during November 2021]

Have you ever walked beside a large body of water at sunset? Perhaps you have been beside a calm sea or a lake whilst the sun is setting beyond the western horizon, or maybe you prefer to loiter in the moonlight with its silvery sheen contrasting with the dark water. Either way, you will have noticed the band of light that seems to be shining directly at you.

As you walk along the shore that beam tracks with you – you are its focus. Stand still and it concentrates on you; run and it keeps up. Hide behind a tree or duck behind a wall and it waits for you to reappear. Other people with you will see their own beams but you know that one beam in particular is looking directly at you.

In a small way this is an illustration of how God looks at us. You can try to move one way or the other, or try to hide but he still has his eye on you. Furthermore, God never sets below the horizon so you cannot wait out the beam either. How does knowing that God is watching affect our behaviour and our relationships?

In the Genesis account of creation we are told:

Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. [Genesis 1 v16 NIVUK]

In the immediately preceding verses we are told three of the reasons why they were created:
– to divide the day from the night;
– for signs and seasons, for days and years;
– to give light on the earth.
Here are three passages from the words of Jesus that correspond with those reasons.

As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. [John 9 v4 NIVUK]

The writer of Ecclesiastes advises us: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all thy might”^[1]. Are we actively engaged in our Father’s business? Are we enthusiastic about it?

There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. [Luke 21 v25 NIVUK]

Jesus was talking about the period immediately preceding his return. Can we equate climate change with those signs or was he speaking figuratively, referring instead to political turmoil and the breakdown of social norms? How do you understand those signs? Jesus said that heaven and earth will pass away; how then should we relate to those campaigning to save the planet?

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. [Matthew 5:16 NIVUK]

The original Old Testament writers would not have been familiar with modern understanding of the solar system. For them, Earth was the hub of the universe; the sun, moon and stars all revolved around Earth. For us, there is a great temptation to think that we are at the centre of our own little universe. How much better it would be to ensure that our attitudes and actions give light to those around us.

[1] Ecclesiastes 9 v10.

Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.

Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during November 2021]

I was reading through the book of Judges in parallel with the current sermon series when a particular phrase caught my attention:

There arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. [Judges 2 v10 KJV]

Something there sounded familiar. We can find a similar phrase in the beginning of the book of Exodus: “There arose a new Pharaoh who knew not Joseph”^[1]. In that case the new Pharaoh did not know how his country had been saved by the actions of a God-fearing man and he made a series of disastrous decisions. It is a sequence that has been repeated throughout history.

There is a recurrent theme throughout the book of Judges: the nation turns away from God, it gets into trouble, it appeals to God for help, he sends a leader through whom he can restore the nation and they all lived happily … until another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the cycle repeats. It is summed up in the final verse of the book, which acts as a type of epitaph:

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
[Judges 21 v25 NKJV]

Henry Ford is credited with saying “History is bunk!” but now it is Henry Ford who is history. Do we learn anything from history or is it simply a thing of the past? The current trend to ignore the lessons of history, both social and spiritual, suggests that once again they will be repeated.

The final and arguably the greatest of Israel’s judges in those times was Samuel. His story is recorded in the first book that carries his name. He had God-fearing parents but he was, in effect, brought up by Eli the priest, who taught him how to guide the spiritual life of the nation. It is ironic, therefore, that both Eli and Samuel are found in the ranks of God-fearing men whose own children do not share their convictions^[2].

In the book of Deuteronomy Moses reiterates the Ten Commandments and gives the people additional instructions on how to make sure the nation continued to stay on the right path.

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. [Deuteronomy 6 v6-7 NIVUK]

Are we guilty of allowing a new generation to arise that knows not what the Lord has done for his people?

[1]: Exodus 1 v8
[2]: 1 Samuel 2 v12, 1 Samuel 8 v3.

Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.

Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.