faith and works

Faith without works is dead.

We have that on reliable authority. And it means that while God is the one who makes things happen, he likes to involve us as well.

"Let's do it!" he says, with a child-like glint in his eyes. As it were.

He's up for doing the impossible. And he likes to have us involved.

It's a 'family business' after all.

So most of my days are a mix of the two. Faith and works.

There's a time of prayer, of course, each day, at 9.40am. Not long.

But focussed, specific and really wide-ranging in scope. Directed to the resurrecting God for whom nothing is impossible.

We scan some pretty big horizons in this time of prayer.

Because he's a pretty big God. And Acts 9.40-42, to which this time of prayer owes its origin and life, narrates a God who gets people up on their feet again and raises the dead to life.

And Wednesday evenings, too, there's a time of prayer. There aren't that many out again. But it's pretty much a solid hour or so of concentrated prayer.

Looking to God, in all sorts of different situations, and believing him to be the one who makes things happen. Who does the impossible.

But sandwiched between the two times of prayer there's a whole load of 'works' going on.

Like we get our daily marching orders from the Lord first thing, and then hit the road for him. And with him. He's involved in it all himself, of course.

Today that hitting the road included a fair bit of preparation in the morning.

The Wednesday lunchtime service, for instance, doesn't just magically happen. I have to work at that, study the passage, tease out its message and get it all clear in my mind. All before half-past twelve.

We were due as well to have a rep from the firm which supplies us with paper come in. We'll be producing our own Christmas Card this year and we need to work out just what sort of paper's best.

Yes, it's that time of year again. And, no, the guy didn't pitch up.

But it meant that I had some work to do in preparing the card for production. At least in draft. To see how the thing would look on the different sorts of paper we would try.

When the guy came in.

Which, as I say, he didn't.

But that's 'works' again. A simple bit of coloured card can't do that much by itself. But God can do impossible things. He can use such things to touch the hearts and change the lives of people who receive it down the line.

"Let's do it!" he says. And we're up for that! We always are. A joint enterprise.

We get to make the card. He gets to use the card to reach the deepest parts of people's lives.

It's not a bad deal! It makes life exciting, an adventure each day. Anything can happen.

There was more of this 'hitting the road' in the afternoon.

Quite literally.

A trip up town in a 41 bus for a meeting to tackle some issues we're having to face.

Corner of the carpet sort of issues. The sort of thing, in other words, I'm tempted to sweep under the carpet and hope, somehow, it simply goes away.

They don't, of course. Hope, like faith, is pretty much dead in the water without a deal of work.

God sorts things out. Amazingly. Wisely and gently as well.

But there isn't a magic wand.

Just some pretty grubby hands. We have to roll up our sleeves and get on with the things that need to be done to tackle these problems head on.

He sorts them out, like I say. But we've got to work at them, too.

As in a ninety minute meeting way up town.

Hard, demanding, stretching of the mind. But not wasted time at all.

If things are going to happen it will be because of God. If problems are resolved it will be always down to God.

We look to him, trust him, turn to him, pray to him. Daily.

Faith.

But things happen, too, because we're prepared to take the steps that are needed. And do the sheer hard graft.

Works.

Which makes for a long day always.

But more than a little interesting!

I just liked this cartoon from CartoonStock.com!