Have you ever read or heard something that seems to be exactly the right thing for that moment? Maybe a friend (or stranger) has said something you didn’t know you needed to hear, or you’ve read something that has struck a chord somewhere deep inside. Whichever, something that has brought clarity or comfort.
That happened to me this week. I got told something that I wasn’t expecting, and it knocked me sideways and left me a little uncertain. It wasn’t a comfortable place to be but I wasn’t really sure which way to turn.
I ended my working day as I usually do, going to an evening service of prayer (a fairly new habit that I’ve found helpful) and instead of using the set readings for the day, the person leading the service chose to use the readings set for a different celebration. So out came the bibles (because usually we can just use the app on the phone) and we read through the new readings. One of these readings was one we had read earlier in the week. The psalm was one I’ve read many times and am very familiar with. Admittedly, I was less familiar with the reading fron Isaiah.
Even so, as we were reading them, some things spoke straight to my heart in a way they hadn’t before, and we exactly what I needed to point me back in the right direction, to encourage me to look forwards rather than backwards.
The psalm was psalm 139. Its a good psalm, one I’ve often used for reminding people of how well God knows them and how important they are. But that wasn’t the bit that struck me this time. It was earlier on:
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there
If I rise on thw wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
Psalm 139: 7-10
David wrote this psalm, the man after God’s own heart, the shepherd boy turned giant slayer turned king. He ran away a lot. He feared for his life and was pursued by an angry king. He also led armies. He knew what he meant when he was writing this: God follows everywhere.
Which was some comfort to me at that moment: it doesn’t matter where I go or where I live, I can never move too far away that God won’t be right there with me.
Then the Isaiah reading:
You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.
Isaiah 25: 4
The answer to the question in my heart, where do I turn now? Oh yeah, to God. Because God has yet to leave me, rather I always get what I need (which isn’t always the same as what I want!) If I look back at some of the hard times, the times that really sucked, the times that sometimes left me wondering where God was, I can look at where I am now and know I am in a better place, not lost in those darker times, and somehow because of those dark times, God has brought about good for me. Sometimes you just have to stop and look, and remember where to place your trust. I know I did after reading that.
And finally, the reading I had read just a couple of days prior
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ
2 Corinthians 1: 3-5
When I read this for the second time, I was once again struck by how it sounds like a student trying to meet a word count, but also found a deeper level of comfort in it. The bible never says we get to live and easy life as Christians. Here it says the complete opposite. I know that some suffer more than others, but here it says ‘in all our troubles’ – not just the worst ones, not comparing them to another’s troubles, but comfort is given in all our troubles. And that so we can comfort others. It’s not wasted, but used for good.
Have you noticed that the sometimes the kindest people, the people who offer the most help and comfort are those who have had it hard? They know, they understand, and they want to help you through it. That’s God. God speaks through his living word (the bible) and through his creation (other people).
It was strange to turn up expecting one set of readings only to have them unexpectedly changed, something that (in my experience at least) doesn’t usually happen.
It was a great comfort to me that day to have readings that said, “don’t worry, I’m here. I always have been and I always will be.” Maybe it was just a coincidence that they were changed. Or maybe…?
I wonder what God’s trying to say to you. Encouragement? Comfort? Direction? Reassurance? Teaching? I can’t answer that one for you, but I can urge you to take note when words land deeper than usually. Take them away, think on them, write them somewhere and come back to them. Because often, when it’s ‘just what you needed to hear’ it’s because God knows what you need.
The Reason for my Hope Blog 