God is bigger than all this!

A couple of weeks ago I went to a meeting with other leaders in my town. There were representatives of the local Council, leaders of charities, and several Church leaders, all of us dependent on the voluntary sector to deliver our services. The purpose of the meeting was to talk about the cost of living crisis which is already biting hard. We were there to look for opportunities for collaboration. We were there to encourage and inspire each other.

The story was neither encouraging or inspirational. People struggling to pay their bills. Deep anxiety about increasing rent and mortgage rates. People using foodbanks who never thought they would need that kind of help. People getting into unmanageable debt. Local services stretched beyond their capability to deliver. Charities trying to stand in the gap but facing huge financial challenge. Compassion fatigue amongst volunteers. The clear expectation that this crisis will deepen and last for three to five years. It was a bleak picture.

At the end of the meeting, I spoke to Martin, a Christian colleague who has huge experience and leads an important local charity. He sensed that the meeting had left me feeling challenged and even depressed by the outlook.

‘Never forget,’ he said,’ that we have a God who is good, and is much bigger than all of this.’

These are difficult days. I needed that reminder. Maybe you do too.

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”        Psalm 20: 7 (NIV)

Richard Jackson is the Director of LifePicture UK. He is exploring what it is like to live as a contemplative evangelical.

The solitary place: Mark 1:35 – 37

We’re in Capernaum. It is really early on in the ministry of Jesus. We’re reading the account which was written by the Apostle Mark, which almost certainly recounts the memories of a man called Peter. Simon Peter. In this passage he’s simply called Simon.

I love the idea of Jesus waking up early, before everyone else in the house was awake, and creeping out. It’s such a moment of sheer humanity. Walking out of the town Jesus went to a quiet place.  He went there to pray. He went there to find space. Space with God.

Mark’s account tells us that when they discovered Jesus had gone, not everyone was happy. Simon was not happy. They went to look for him. They found him. “Everyone is looking for you” says Simon. Let’s be honest, it has the hint of exasperation about it. “Jesus,” it sounds like, “What are you doing? Everyone’s looking for you!”

Jesus went somewhere quiet to spend time with God. To be apart with God. He has been still. You’ll recognise the sense of the contemplative. And now he’s ready to go. Go to the villages to preach the Kingdom of God. You’ll recognise the sense of the evangelical.

I’m trying to follow Jesus. I am a contemplative evangelical. Some people think that is a challenging combination. So did Simon Peter. 

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him they exclaimed, “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else – to the nearby villages – so that I can preach there also,

Mark 1: 35-38

Richard Jackson is the former Executive Director of Christian charity Family Foundations Trust, and an international coach for CCI Worldwide