Uncertain Times
How are you? With news that the number of people with Covid in the UK is growing, I hope you are staying safe.
As I come to write another issue of Praise & Prayer News, I am conscious of how uncertain these times seem to be. In the UK (and elsewhere) we are caught up with the steadily rising cost of living. This is partly due to the rising price of electricity, gas, and oil for heating our homes. This is due to the impact of the war in Ukraine. When and how might that end? More uncertainty.
Political life in the UK is also uncertain. Most are wondering what kind of king His Majesty King Charles III will be. And then there is the turmoil in the government and the Conservative party. So far decisions taken have had a devastating impact on many. - including charities. We seem surrounded by uncertainty.
In times like these it is so important that we keep our eyes fixed on our unchanging Jesus. We can have utter confidence in him and in his promises to us. He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. So, the hope we have in him for our eternal salvation is sure.
Consider these wonderful words of promise from Isaiah chapter 26 verses 3 and 4.
“You [our God] will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.”
One of my favourite psalms is Psalm 92 where the writer states that it is good to praise the Lord and make music to God’s name. To proclaim his love in the morning and his faithfulness at night. Now, before we conclude that the psalmist is whistling in the dark, he also states, “the wicked spring up like grass, and all evildoers flourish” That sounds like uncertain times!
Have you noticed the difference between morning and night in that psalm? The first thing in the day for the psalmist is declaring that our God is a God of love. Whatever might come our way during that day, he declares that God is love and God loves him. Then, when he gets to the evening, his testimony is that God has been faithful. I want to say a hearty “Amen!” to that. How do you start and end each day?
Talking about uncertainty, we have had some changes in our administration. This newsletter, for example, now comes to you through MailerLite. Is it working OK for you? We are still learning how to get the best out of the system, and we make mistakes. In the past, if someone wanted to stop receiving Praise & Prayer News, there was a serious risk we could have accidentally lost all contact with them. Now you can interact with the system to select what you receive and how often you get news from us. At least I hope that is what we have set up.
I also discovered that almost 100 people who had asked to receive Praise & Prayer News had never been put on that mailing list. Oh dear! Uncertain times. But we are gradually putting it right.
One thing that is certain is that churches seem less confident about engaging in mission activity than they were before the pandemic. Some rural people are risk averse, and there is wisdom in being cautious where the memory of mistakes and bad decisions can last for generations. But there is also a time to be bold.
Please pray for various churches that have made tentative approaches about arranging an Away-Day for their members to talk about mission and reaching out into their communities.
This week, on Wednesday, we are working in an Anglican deanery in Bedfordshire. David Wells and I have been working on the programme, but some of the clergy for whom it was planned are either on holiday or going on holiday. Please pray that those still available will realise the value of this week’s event.
We ask your prayers for our Chair of Trustees, Gordon Banks, and his family. His family has been really going through tough times. A couple of years ago, a five-year-old granddaughter suffered a bleed on her brain and had to be rushed by helicopter to a specialist hospital. More recently, they have had some bereavements among close relatives with the latest, Becky, being the victim of a hit and run incident in which, it seems, the driver of a car deliberately mounted the pavement.
In uncertain times, we might wonder whether disaster is just a fact of life or an attack of our enemy. When Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus they, like many early Christians lived in uncertain times (but with the certainty that they had enemies). Paul’s encouragement for them was to stand strong in the Lord and the power of his might and be clothed with the whole armour of God. Good advice, we could all take to heart.
Barry Osborne 16th October 2022
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