So, Rita was away yesterday and my afternoon was really stressful without her.
On Thursdays we run ‘Afternoon Fellowship’ at Orchard Baptist which involves a few (mainly elderly) people gathering for a short service which is followed by tea and biscuits. Rita always arrives early to sort out the tea and put out a few chairs and once she is there I can go to pick Rene up (I tend to use a car rather than throwing her over my shoulder).
Yesterday, I arrived at church at 1.30pm and that is when I remembered that Rita had said that she was going to be away.
I began setting things out, but then I realized that I couldn’t go to collect Rene because there was no one at church to set up. At 1.50pm, people started arriving and then I jumped in the car and picked Rene up and in the end we started fairly late. Oops.
It was a really stressful afternoon because Rita wasn’t there but to be honest, the real reason I was stressed was because I hadn’t planned or even thought about how I would cope without Rita.
As I thought about this later, I realized that the role that Rita plays reminded me of how God is often at work.
God is usually at work in the background supporting and getting things in place.
God calls his followers, members of his body and often he requires us to be a part of his work in a hands on way.
You see, God won’t usually miraculously accomplish what members of his body can do as he works through and with them.
Sometimes when life is especially hard, we need to realize that it is because we are living as though God isn’t there and that we also haven’t planned for how we will cope with what we are facing without God’s presence.
So, if we believe that God is with us always, then perhaps it is time for us to turn to and to be led by him in every situation.
Rita is visiting family so she couldn’t be at church yesterday but the really good news is that God is always with us even when he is with other members of his family as well!
God is never away and so we never need to be without him 🙂
Honest about my faith 