Thought for the Day – Thursday 10th September
‘The Lord is my rock, my
fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my
shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my
refuge and my saviour.’ (2 Samuel
22: 2-3)
The
majesty of the Grand Canyon stretching for miles, the immenseness of the Old
Man of Hoy and its rock face standing as sentinel as you approach Orkney, the
worshipful feeling you get at the Ring of Brodgar stone circle in Orkney, the
resilience of the island of Lindisfarne and its Castle sitting on its rocky
outcrop cut off at times by the tide and constantly battered by wind and sea,
the beauty of the tide and wind formed Needles off the Isle of Wight, the
safety and security offered to sailors by the Portland Head Lighthouse perched
on its rocky promontory in Maine, the longing, hope and relief felt by so many
on seeing the White Cliffs of Dover once more, Stirling Castle atop its rocky
outcrop offering protection to the folks living around it, the sight of the
huge Bowder Stone in Borrowdale in the Lake District just sitting there on its
edge and the marvelling at how creation and a glacier could leave it there at
exactly that point in the valley, the thankfulness felt at having negotiated
the long narrow rocky ridge atop Helvellyn known as the ‘Striding Edge’ and its
scree strewn slopes and that feeling of having been well and truly watched over
while on the rocky surface on reaching the safety of Ullswater Youth Hostel.
All
of these places, experiences and feelings have deeply affected me and remained
in my memory, some from a long time ago and some more recent but what they all
have in common is that each evokes for me an image of God, some of the
qualities of God, whenever I hear him described as ‘my rock, my fortress, me
deliverer’.
I
have to say in each of these places I felt very close to God as if it was one
of those ‘thin places’ I often speak about where it feels as if heaven and
earth are so close that they are almost touching.
So
the majesty of God, his immenseness or omnipotence, the worshipfulness he
evokes in us, his resilience, the beauty he creates around us and the awe and
amazement his creation arouses in us, the safety, security, longing, hope,
relief and protection he offers to us – all of which should evoke from us great
thankfulness for his loving care and devotion to us.
Our
God is indeed a rock that will endure for all eternity, a stronghold that
nothing can ever overcome and though all else in the world may change, though
some rocks may erode, our God will remain the same and though all else may fail
our God will not!
He
is our rock, our fortress, our deliverer, our salvation, our Saviour!
So,
as the hymn says, which by the way is another image of God which comes to my
mind on hearing these words of scripture:
‘Rock
of ages cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee’.
Prayer
Loving
Lord,
We give
you our thanks and praise this day, for you have created the earth and
entrusted it into our hands, you have called us to be your people, you have
spoken to us through Jesus teaching us to be faithful stewards of your gifts,
to look to you and to trust in you. Lord, we are blessed that you are our rock,
watching over us, guarding us, guiding us and protecting us at all times. May
we as the hymn says, simply hide ourselves in you, simply cling to you our rock
and simply cling always to the cross and all it means to and for us. In
Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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