The Crumbling Road.

As we go through our lives some people have the luxury of being able to remember back to people and places of days gone by. They can look back along the road of their lives and still see people and places that they knew from years before. Friends, relatives, old schools, old churches, old bars that they drank in.

But I am different. I look back to think of the two main churches that I attended while growing up and they are no longer there. Demolished, to make way for new housing. I look back to the two little primary (junior)  schools that I attended as a child. They have now been demolished and are currently awaiting new housing being built on them. My secondary (senior) school that I attended has now been repurposed so much that it no longer functions as a school and only the outside façade shows any semblance of the school I once attended.

The same thing goes for the technical college that I attended as an apprentice. It has also been repurposed and expanded beyond all recognition. Also, the premises of the little company that I worked for and served my apprenticeship is now demolished too. It’s almost as if the road of life that I travelled has been crumbling away behind me as I walked along it.

I once heard someone say that “sometimes, there’s a reason why some people didn’t stay with you for your whole life”. I don’t know if there is any truth in that but I do know that the life that I live now bears no resemblance to the life that I had when growing up.

The bible tells us that the Apostles and Disciples were all mentored and guided by Jesus for three years. He taught them, corrected them, and chided them into a band of christian workers ready to establish His church. However, Jesus knew that there was a time approaching when He would no longer be with them and they would have to be ready to stand with each other.

Ok. Now, I’m starting to sound like Job from the Old Testament and lamenting over a past life. But this blog is not really about me lamenting over anything. For I recently heard someone say something that made me stop and think about people and how God works in all of our lives.

And it was this - When you get something that you want, that is God’s Direction. When you don’t get something that you want, that is God’s Protection.

You see, God is with His people at all times. Even when we don’t see him…

Psalm ch34 (18) The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (19) The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; 

And He stays with us all as we face our hardships. He walks with us as we stand with our trials. And He loves us still.

2nd Corinthians 7(10) Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret,…

And some day your pain will become your platform. Your survival will become your story. And you will be able to stand and tell other christians of how God is with us all the time.

Just like all those little churches and little schools that I went to, they have all now gone. So my troubles have now faded into the past also. I still remember the pain, but it doesn’t hurt any more. And I can share this with others so that they can learn to trust that God will bring them through their troubles too.

Amen.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right spirit within me.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Thy presence;
Take not Thy holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation;
And renew a right spirit within me.
 
Email - TheseLivelyOracles@hotmail.com
Internet - www.theselivelyoracles.co.uk
Facebook - These Lively Oracles
Twitter(X) - @LivelyOracles58

 

Location: H3W9+VX Belfast, UK

Comments

Post a Comment

Like

Popular posts from this blog

Nowhere To Be Found.

I have been involved with several different projects over my years of being with churches, projects and christian groups. And, within the context of my faith/life, in all these ventures I only ever tried to be of some use to God and His people along the way. Learning about Him and His church was all I ever wanted. It was never done for money, or gain, or privilege. And the only thing I ever hoped to gain from it all was a sense that I was being useful to God. A lot of the projects went well for their time. And I really enjoyed them. But there came a time when I began to wonder what my purpose was in being there anymore. The initial buzz just didn’t seem to be as strong as it was and things started feeling as if I was getting in people’s way. So, I moved along and found another little project to get involved in. And, again, it ran its course and my time in that project came to an end and I moved on again. So, the projects all ended. And, if I was being honest with myself, I felt...
Read more

The Littlest Town.

Our thoughts this week are all centered round the Nativity. And although the festival of Christmas has been commercialised and embellished beyond all recognition there are still certain bits of the story that remain constant. One such reference is to the town of Bethlehem. It would have been a small sleepy town where the Bible tells us that the shepherds kept watch over their flocks of sheep. But I decided to do a bit more reading on the place. And there is another side to Bethlehem’s story. A pre-history, if you will. Bethlehem. Wow, what a place. So steeped in biblical history. In one book that I enjoy reading (Sketches of Jewish Social Life by Alfred Edersheim) the writer mentions an area called  Migdal Eder. It translates into The Tower Of The Flock and it suggests that the shepherds who watched over their flocks by night were sitting in watchtowers. Luke ch2 v8 tells us that the shepherds were abiding the in the fields. But a quick look onto the internet maps and we can see th...
Read more

The Voyage To The Unknown

In fourteen hundred and ninety two. Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He had three ships and left from Spain; He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain. And so the poem by Jean Marzollo goes. It’s a glamourous and fantastical poem about what was a dangerous and hastily threw together journey. I was listening to a sermon by my favourite online preacher when he spoke of Christopher Columbus. He said…..               When he set out, he didn’t know where he was going.                When he got there, he didn’t know where he was.               When he got home, he didn’t know where he’d been. Our “faith journey” as a Christian is very much like that. Everything starts out at some point in our lives. And we do the things that we do to join in with other Christians and churches. But most of the time our journey leads us on twists, turns and detours that we coul...
Read more