The scriptures tackle the issues of life with dexterity and precision weaving a pattern of tranquility in a world of chaos. The winds of worldly expectation blow with mystifying confusion across the landscape of unintentional instability as hopes and dreams lie scattered among the dismally discarded ruins of unfulfilled desires. Hedged in by unrelenting turmoil of mind and spirit many struggle with the pressures of normal existence exasperated by the unexpected dangers of a modern world. Others fall prey to the terrors of loneliness and isolation fuelled by the inner tensions of timidity and bashfulness. Feelings that lay dormant for many years gathering the dust of self generated perceptions of worthlessness provoke a despondency submerged in the ocean of unrelenting agony of mind and emptiness of soul. Job suffered much and long when stripped of all he knew and loved. Undeserving of such harsh circumstances as God allowed he felt the pain yet he endured, he overcame, he held on to God, he trusted in God’s care , he believed God’s promises, and so his latter end was greater than his former. The Psalmist David struggled much on his journey to the throne of Israel, yet he made it, though battered and bruised he was victorious in the end. Paul the great apostle carried with him all his days a thorn so securely embedded in his flesh he feared it would be a stumbling block of extreme despair but it became instead a stepping stone to Paradise. We think of weeping Hannah whose tears subsided when her darling Samuel was born as a precious gift from God, or of brave Ruth who committed to the unknown in response to the gentle prompting of God in her heart when all around her was death and uncertainty. The disciples shivered in a boat as they battled the bitter questions of their minds and wrestled with the boisterous threat of their demise. Daniel faced the lions, three Hebrew youths stood calmly in the fire, a blind man raised his voice and his hopes as he expressed the expectations of his heart. Lives spared and sight restored these heroes of the faith remind us today that with God all things are possible and the all things work together for good to those who love God to those who are the called according to His purpose. Rom 8:28 It is this assurance that stimulates our confidence and bolsters our resolve to absorb the sovereign designs of scripture as we rise above our frustrations and embrace the challenge of peacefully submitting to the sweet will of God for our lives. Robert & Fiona
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