The Wrong Turn!!!

Many years ago I visited a foreign country. I had heard that there was a local pastor there who came from my area and had gone out there to do some missionary church work. And since we had some mutual friends I decided to contact him and go for a coffee.

We met up and had a good chat and then he invited me to his Sunday service and gave me directions through the little streets of the town to his church.

As I walked along the streets and followed the directions he gave me I saw nothing that would indicate there was a church nearby. Sometimes there should be a symbol of a cross, or a dove or a bible. Or a word on a sign something along the lines of “ecclesia” or “evangelista” written somewhere. But I saw nothing. Just some closed up facades of the shops and workplaces.

I was just about to give up and return to my car when I heard a distant voice shouting “Hey you!!!!” What made this voice catch my attention was the broad local accent that I recognised. I turned around and looked up the street and, sure enough, there was the Pastor waving at me. He had given me wrong directions – Turn Right, when it should have been left.

I waved back and walked up the street to meet him and he said, “I realised that I told you to turn right instead of left so I came out to see if I could find you. Once I saw you I then realised that I had forgotten your name and the only thing I could think of was to shout “Hey you” in the broadest accent that I could use.”

I giggled to myself. I’m here in the heart of the backstreets of the little Spanish town of Calpi and a Pastor is shouting “Hey You” at me from halfway up the street.

When I recall this memory I am also transported back in my thoughts to the very early 1960’s when I attended the Salvation Army Sunday School in Belfast. That was another time when I, as a little 5 year old rascal, had got onto the stage while the preacher was preaching. I forget what was actually happening there but all of a sudden the preacher guldered “Hey you”. I stopped in my tracks and one of the women assistants came and took me back to my seat. She never left my side for the rest of the meeting.

This “Hey you” chant was to also help me many times as I worked around heavy industry, building sites and factories. If we had to shout something to get someone’s attention it was invariably a big “Hey you”, or simply just “Yo”. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes I ignored it and kept on walking.

Often times in our Christian life we can get a little bit disoriented. Just like I was in the streets of that little Spanish town. I was walking along following the directions that I was given but I didn’t recognise anything that had been described to look out for. And sometimes I have found the Church can be like that. Whether we go once a week, or five times a week, sometimes there may come a point when we stop and think “Where am I with God? Is this all there is?”

We come to church. We sing the Psalms, Hymns and spiritual songs. We pray the prayers and we listen to some of the sermons. But sometimes we just stop and wonder. ”Is this it?” And sometimes we just lose sight of God and forget that it is Him that we have come to Church for in the first place.

When God isn’t there - or more properly, doesn’t appear to be there, we sometimes just need to stop, go back to basics and remind ourselves of why we come to church in the first. Sometimes the regularity and routine of church can be all encompassing. Sometimes we can feel so disoriented that we don’t know which way to turn for the best, or what to do next.

In the Old Testament book of Daniel we read of three men called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They would not worship the foreign gods of King Nebuchadnezzar so he had them taken captive and thrown into a furnace. Here they were, trying to serve God while held captive in a foreign land. They ended up being thrown into a blazing hot furnace and they really didn’t know what to do next.

But then something unique happened…

Daniel ch3 (24)Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counsellors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered and said to the king, "True, O king." (25)"Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."

While those men were fearful in the furnace God was close to them. They did now know the outcomes of what the events would bring. But God drew near to them. And Nebuchadnezzar saw it too.

So when we get lost in our faith sometimes, or when we get a bit disoriented, just stop and listen for God’s voice. You might not hear it right away. But you definitely will hear it at some point. It will be as loud as a whisper and it will be as calm as a storm. But when you hear Him, you will know Him. All we need to do is keep on praying our simple little prayers and keep on singing our simple little choruses.

Remember God’s promise in the Old Testament…

Joshua ch1 (9) Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

No, never alone. No, never alone;
He promised never to leave me.
Never to leave me alone.
No, never alone. No, never alone:
He promised never to leave me.
Never to leave me alone.

I’ve seen the lightning flashing and heard the thunder roll,
I’ve felt sin’s breakers dashing, which tried to conquer my soul;
I’ve heard the voice of my Saviour. Telling me still to fight on:
He promised never to leave me. Never to leave me alone.

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