Devotional

if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,  Psalm 139:9b-10a

There are Bible passages and verses that instantly resonate with us. They may have encouraged or challenged us in times past, or provided direction.  Some may simply give us a sense of God and a joy in Him.

The passage above, from Psalm 139, rings that bell every time I read or hear it. It reminds me of my migrant origins and that, even by traveling to other side of the earth, God has continued to be present and faithful. Time and distance are no barriers for the creator of them. God reminds me of His majesty and power.

There is also a personal irony in the verse. In my extended family those who have migrated are more likely to have kept faith than those who didn’t. This was despite my mother’s former teacher telling her that she was traveling to a godless country. There could be a number of reasons for faith remaining alive, such as the need for comfort and assurance when removed from our “comfort zone” and the gathering in church groups for  mutual support when arriving in a new country.

Whatever the reasons, I praise God whenever I read this verse because I know, from personal experience, that it is true.

Barns in Scandinavia are built in such a way that vermin are prevented from getting in. The harvest is precious and, in past years, it meant that a family could survive another harsh winter.

It never ceases to amaze me how casual parents are about the computer use of their children. Young children often have access to the world in the privacy of their bedrooms without any supervision or protection. “My child is responsible.” “We need to respect their privacy.” The precious children are open to attack by all sorts of vermin. I still remember the first time I rang a dad and suggested that there was evidence that his daughter was being “groomed” on the internet. This was happening out of school hours but I felt I had a responsibility to alert him to the possibility. I was roundly abused. Later my fears were proven to be well founded. But I never received an apology or a word of thanks for the warning. It did teach me at the time that many parents are wilfully foolish with regard to the protection of their children.

Unlike the harvest, too often our precious children are not protected.

How should a committed Christian parent be training their child in internet and computer use? I have lots of ideas, but I would love to hear from parents. What are you doing to ensure the spiritual, moral and emotional safety of your children?

Not so long ago, if you saw someone talking to themselves, you quietly thought that they had kangaroos loose in the top paddock or were a few palings short of a fence. Nowadays it is more likely that they are using a hands free mobile phone. There is a new reality that explains this behaviour.

It is a handy illustration. More and more, Christians are being sidelined as irrelevant and anachronistic. We are often considered to be simple and foolish because we have a faith in the God/man who died on a Roman cross 2000 years ago. But this faith is the reality we work from. This is the worldview that arranges our understanding and meaning of all that surrounds us.

Taking on the values of the society in which we live is easy and often done unconsciously. However, our reality must be shaped by this God/man. When we look at ethics, work, politics, leisure and all the other components that make up modern life, is it Christ that shapes our thinking? Yes, we may appear like a person talking to themselves in the pre-hands-free mobile phone age. The truth is, however, strikingly different. We are saying through our words and lifestyle that our worldview/perspective on all life is shaped by Christ.

We may be called mad or foolish but there is a different, eternal, reality that drives us.

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

There was a time when I was under a great deal of pressure on a daily basis. Going to work was a trial. I had to force myself to face each day anew.

Then I discovered the Psalms for myself. I say, “for myself”, because in my time as a pastor I had regularly used them to bring peace, hope and healing for others. To be honest, I had never discovered them for myself. That changed.

Each morning before I went to work, I spent time with God. I ended each morning’s devotion by reading a Psalm. Very  quickly I discovered that the concluding Psalm became God’s pep talk for me, to encourage me into the day:

So every morning as I went out to teach, I had the words of God ringing in my ears. This morning “ritual” enabled me to understand that God was a regular companion with me as I entered my day. There were other results. I have to confess, I began to see the Psalms in a far more personal light. The Psalms weren’t just comforting greeting card passages, but they were God’s revelation to me, His child.

To this day, when I read certain Psalms, they remind me of my struggles, but better still, they also remind me how God carried me through this time.