Put yourself aside long enough to help others get ahead, and look out for each other, like they are the most important. Philippians 2.3-4 (translation mine) My church has started sending out daily thoughts to guide our hearts and minds back to God during this time of self-isolation, social-distancing and insecurity of what this will all mean for the future. They're callled 'LOOK UP IN LOCKDOWN' and I don't know who came up with that idea, but I love it. I'm someone who can sometimes feel swallowed up because I'm looking so intently at what's around me, or going over and over again in my head what's within me, and it's all - in my opinion - highly stress inducing.
Last week I was struggling with back pain (let's just say my home is not yet Work-From-Home-ready...), and that along with the constant changes in what we were or weren't allowed to do left me feeling frustrated and easily annoyed. I was sad that I wouldn't be able to see anyone outside of my house, and afraid that it'll last a long time. I tried to busy myself thinking of all these things I could do in my house, but every time I tried to do any of them for any length of time, my back pain got worse. I was at breaking point. And then I read these words in the first instalment of LOOK UP IN LOCKDOWN (and had some solid help (pushing!) from my husband yesterday to do something I enjoyed and which gave joy to others): "...in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others." (Philippians 2.3-4, NIV) This is the picture it produced in my mind. A woman who's put aside the thoughts of herself, the things to do with her appearance, her actions, what others think, what others see. All that is hung up on the fence, while she gets dirty for something all can enjoy. There are many ways we can think highly of others and do things for others. My favourite right now is baking - what's yours? But my favourite part of this verse, when I looked into it, is that where we usually read it as "not looking to your own interests but the interests of others..." - the word in Greek means "not watching out for yourself, but each [watching out for] others". That's what I translated it 'look out for each other'. Who can you be looking out for this week? Those in your house? Those who might not be in a house with anyone right now? People you can message, call, email, check-in with. Look out for each other. God knows we need more of that right now. Stay safe, and take care!
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I just got back from a week away by the sea! It's good to be home and to catch up on all the things I didn't do while on holiday, but I'm also always sad to say goodbye to the sea. And this photo pretty much sums those feelings up for me. I imagine my face with this wistful, longing look on it, gazing out, trying to know every undulation and take in all of this expanse - which I can't possibly do - while I can.
The sea has always made me think of God. How vast it is. How powerful it is. That I could never fully take it all in, but therefore, that I could never tire of endlessly exploring it. I remember a couple of years ago, sitting out on a surfboard in Cornwall waiting for a wave to come, and I kind of feel like that now. I feel like God is allowing me to glimpse something of the wonderful plans God has for me to get involved in - out there on the horizon - and I'm waiting. But it doesn't feel like it has at points in the past: like I'm aimlessly waiting, and praying desperately that God would reveal to me what I'm to do, because without that purpose explained I'm just bobbing around. And my legs are so tired from all the treading water that I know I can't keep it up. In those moments, I've needed God to save me. And God did. But this is different. This is like sitting on that surfboard. I have the feeling in my muscles from the shorter waves I caught closer in, practice spaces, trial and planning phases. I'm grateful for the rest as I sit and feel the undercurrents of God - the motions and movements, the direction they're pulling in. I'm immensely impressed at the beauty and vastness of God as I stare out at the sea all around me. I don't mind that I'm waiting this time - sure, I'm excited and looking forward to when it does come - but I'm not anxious or distressed in this waiting, because I'm spending this time delighting in who God is and all that God has done. And possibly more than anything, I am so hopeful. I'm excited. I feel elevated. There is a sense still, while I'm waiting, that something is about to happen. The waters are starting to stir in the way they do when there's going to be a big wave. And I want it. I don't know if I'll be able to ride it in all the way; there's a real possibility I might fall. But this is the sea we're talking about. This is God we're thinking of. There will be more waves. Grace comes again and again - and the more I ride on these waves, the more exceptional those rides will become. Don't get me wrong - I've experienced both of these kinds of waiting, and I probably will again. Sometimes waiting is just really hard. We all today live in a culture of immediacy, which means that waiting for something jars with us. We start to think that maybe it won't happen at all. I have struggled with this on numerous occasions. But I wanted to share this with you all because there are other kinds of waiting too, and waiting can be a positive experience. If you're in the midst of a waiting struggle - keep praying, be honest to God with your feelings, and allow God to save you from them. And if you're in the midst of a waiting like mine on the surfboard - delight in it, document it so you can remember it in the future, praise God in it. God is a God of all our different experiences and emotions. So keep God involved in them! I've just been away for a 5-day European Youth Congress in Valencia, Spain. It's been AMAZING! For a start, it was my first time in Spain, which did not disappoint! It's been beautifully sunny most days, and wonderfully cloudy on others, cutting out just a little of that heat! Valencia has a beautiful town centre, and a stunning beach where I witnessed crazy people doing beach aerobics and volley ball in close to 40 degrees heat!!! 😯 And where I stayed in the sea until well after sunset because it was still so nice and warm! Wouldn't dare to do that in England! But the real reason why it's been amazing is that I came into this week feeling like a mess. I'm unsure exactly what my future will hold, and I guess I was - a little bit - doubting that even God knew it anymore. Which, of course, I didn't really think when I thought about it, but you know how you can know things but not feel them sometimes - well it was like that. But I am going home so confident that my God is a good God, who loves me and does not leave me. And though I can't see that far into the journey ahead, I know that God is Lord of that entire journey, and journeys with me in love and grace. There has just been such an atmosphere of joy here this week. True joy; unhindered and unceasing! Joy in worshipping an amazing and, actually, beautiful God. I think I call God beautiful a lot, without really thinking about it, but the way God loves and is interested in me, and made all that is around me, is actually beautiful. And so I come out of this week excited, more than anything else. Excited about what God has in store for me, and where he might lead me! Because I'm convinced it will be good. I have faith in an amazing, wonderful, inspiring, loving, challenging, exciting, beautiful God! "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Heb 11.1)
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AuthorI'm a recent Cambridge Theology graduate now studying for a Masters in Biblical Studies and blogging about all sorts of things! I'm interested in faith, Church, theology, social action, the great outdoors and being creative, and all of those things - along with many more - come through in my posts!
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