Thought for the Day - Saturday 25 April

Thought for the Day – Saturday 25^th April

Habakkuk 3: 17-19 offers us some words of ‘Trust and Joy in the midst of Trouble’:

Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

and makes me tread upon the heights.

Faith at a time of coronavirus – can we keep faith?

Well here in these words is faith!

It is almost like going back to that ‘looking about you’ that I spoke of earlier in the week.

To be able to look around us and see there is a glimmer of light in the darkness; to be able to listen carefully and rather than hear only the sounds of folk weeping hear instead the sounds of laughter in the air; to be constantly alert to signs of hope amidst all the despair we are witnessing and to just sit with our grief knowing the promise of resurrection.

So in those moments when we cannot see the woods for the trees; when the clouds seem to be obscuring the sunlight; when we are not aware of God’s presence because of the confusion of our minds or when the noise around us seems to drown out his voice - heed these words from Habakkuk and hold onto trust and joy in the midst of your troubles.

Faith enables you to know in your heart that God is present even in the midst of the most deafening of silences; that God is present and bringing ever-increasing light into the darkness; that God is present constantly, even when we are tempted to think otherwise.

Surely then, knowing and believing that God is present in this time of trouble should be enough for us to enable us to keep faith, knowing he is indeed our strength and he will make us sure-footed and light footed and take us to even greater heights!

Prayer

Loving Lord,

In the midst of this time of trouble may we who are merely inconvenienced remember those whose daily put their lives at risk.

May we who have no risk factors remember those most vulnerable.

May we who have the luxury to work from home remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making enough to live on.

May we who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close remember those who have no options.

May we who have to cancel our trips remember those that have no place to go.

May we who have to settle in for lockdown at home remember those who have no home and during this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other, lead us to yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbours. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.