This season has been like a rollercoaster ride with the ups and downs coming thick and fast each day. We don’t know what’s going to happen next or how we are going to react to it. Instead of feeling like we are calmly walking along the path on solid ground with a clear view of what lies ahead, it seems that we are on a surfboard in the middle of the waves, hanging on and hoping for glimpses of the horizon.
I’m reminded of Jonah in the storm and the boat breaking up, wondering what to do. They tried to throw things overboard, they called on their gods whilst Jonah lay sleeping, but really the only thing that was going to work for them to survive the weather and the water was to call on the name of the Lord. Jesus is the only one who can rescue and save.
We have to keep the main thing the main thing – however rocky the season is – for the Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). As a family, we have had to cling tight to Him to carry us through the uncertainty. Yes, we have read the newspaper and watched the news, but it’s having our heads in the word of God, being led by His Spirit, that has enabled us to find a sure and solid foundation in these uncertain days.
As last Christmas approached, we were looking forward to a bubble of six and seeing family, but then just a few days before, the rules were changed. London entered tier 4 restrictions and Christmas gatherings were cancelled. I remember sitting down at the dining table and sharing with the children that they would not see anyone else over the festive break. Our hearts felt heavy but then we began to softly sing the worship song Our God reigns. The volume grew louder until we were praising our king for all He has given us and not moaning about what we were missing out on.
There have been times of thinking, “How will I get through this week?” “How will I carry on through another few days of uncertainty, illness and grief?” I’ve tried to put on my running shoes, head out into the fresh air and press in with Jesus. I have kept hearing, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The Lord is calling us to “cast our anxiety upon Him because He cares for us” (1 Peter 5:7). We are not called to carry everyone else’s burdens but to surrender them to Jesus and know He is their saviour and that His love never fails us.
I have been leading the Evangelical Alliance for 18 months, and the vast majority of this has been in lockdown. Surviving the storm has involved breaking things into bite-sized chunks, taking things one day at a time, whilst remaining attentive to the bigger picture and looking upwards and wider to see what the Lord is saying and doing. My whole team has played a critical part in us getting through these days – we need each other now more than ever and we were never called to go it alone.
My favourite film is The Shawshank Redemption, and I love this line spoken by one of the main characters: “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” No matter what life throws at us, we have hope in Jesus. If He stops being central to my life, the storm rages. I pray that I will never allow myself to love the work of the Lord more than the Lord of the work, and that this will remain true all the way through my life and yours.
"The Lord is calling us to “cast our anxiety upon Him because He cares for us” (1 Peter 5:7)."
