Any Jurassic Park fans out there? This quote, from the very first film way back in 1993, shows Dr Malcolm’s cynicism at the scientists being able to control the dinosaur population. It is his suggestion that, despite all the measures they have put in place life isn’t meant to be contained and controlled in such a way. Life will find a way to freedom.
Jump back to the Old Testament and the story of Daniel. Whilst in exile, Daniel is faithful to God. The law of the land said that he couldn’t pray or worship God, but he remained to true to what he believed. Rules were imposed and the Jewish faith should have faded away. But God finds a way. Through Daniel and other individuals remaining faithful, through miracles, despite the constraints, God finds a way.
Jump forward to Acts, where Christians are being persecuted. But people like Peter remained faithful and continued to preach about Jesus. Jesus himself meets Saul on the road and transforms him into one of the key figures credited with spreading the gospel in Europe. Christianity should have been killed off, worshiping gods, although allowed, was only allowed if one of those gods was the Roman Emperor. But because of the faithfulness of those who believed, the church thrived in persecution and many were healed and blessed, and came to believe in God.
Jump to today. Over the last few years I have been in a small church based in an estate that is not hugely rich. As numbers worshiping with us on a Sunday have aged and dwindled, we have been hugely blessed by faithful volunteers coming alongside us to reach out to our local community. A humble little church doing all it can with faithful friends acting out of love to meet the needs we can in our local community. For the last 4 years, we have even managed to run a holiday club to bless the local children with fun, games, crafts and tell them about our faith. Each year it has grown a little, and we have become a little more ambitious. And each year, despite some trials, God has faithfully sent enough volunteers to make it happen, and children and families for us to bless.
This year, we planned early so it would be amazing, building on the success of last year. And then, in the UK in March 2020, lock-down hit. We kept planning just in case restrictions were eased and we could run, but come July and the team involved decided we wouldn’t be able to run a physical holiday club. But we didn’t give up.
We just happened to have on the team a couple of people with expertise in filming and video editing. And we just happened to have some enthusiastic people willing to give up their time. And so, we decided to take our message online. But more than that, we decided we could also provide something physical for families in the form of craft packs each day. So we adapted, remaining faithful to what we believed God wanted us to do for the area.
And then it grew. And it wasn’t just one small area we were able to offer the craft packs to, it was 4 whole post codes. And it wasn’t just a handful of families, but 100 children. And more than that, the online content could (and has been) shared beyond that. At the time of writing, I am told that there are people signed up to access the online content on 3 continents.
I say this not to show off, but because I am feeling hugely humbled. This team is fantastic and have come behind a vision to love and bless people first, and to share our faith with them as we do that. But, lets face it, this shouldn’t work. Our team just happened to have the enough people in the right place, and we just happened to find the funds to make this possible, and we just happened to been given access to somewhere we could do filming, and we just happened to be able to fit a filming schedule in around what the team was doing, and we just happened to have the time to organise and put this together in about a month, and we just happened to be able to get the equipment for the craft packs delivered in time to be made up… The list goes on. It could be a series of coincidences. It could be a run of good fortune.
But then you put it in the context I outlined first, how in difficult circumstances God finds a way to continue to share how much He loves people, how God uses faithful people to spread His blessing. And this team I am part of are not the only ones. I hear stories of others finding new ways to share the message, and more people people being reached than they ever expected. And that’s why I hold onto my hope in God. Because when the way ahead looks blocked, God does more than I could ever have expected. God’s love cannot be contained. It does not belong in a building, but freely flows to the people He created. It cannot be constrained by rules, but finds its own way grow.
God… finds a way.
The Reason for my Hope Blog 