high noon

It's not often that I end up 'double booked'. But I was today!

Rather embarassing - and I'm still not sure exactly how it happened. Other than the fact that just occasionally, for reasons best known to itself, my computer kind of 'loses' an entry in the diary section. Which obviously left a space I proceeded to fill.

The whole long morning, in fact, was pretty much filled with people I'd fixed to see.

The 'double booked' folk were very good about it all.

One of them was my 'chaplain' whom I see from time to time. She understood. As you'd expect.

Normally I have about an hour with her. Today it was a much briefer stint.

But enough for me to chat through with her the issues on my heart.

Sometimes there isn't that much for me to be sharing with her. No major problems I'm having to face. Sometimes there are such issues though. And today was one of those times.

I've been grappling for quite some while with a couple of vexing issues. Trying to get clear in my head what the Lord is saying in all of the thing and what he is trying to do.

There's now a degree of urgency over it all. So today I've been working away at that, spending time as well trying to gain a bit of clarity.

The clarity came. Quite pointedly in fact.

Mainly as I gave myself to preparing for tomorrow's lunch time service. The Lord seemed to make things all clear through the passage I worked to prepare.

It's about the brothers of Joseph preparing to meet with the man (though they don't know it's him). And they're due to meet him at noon.

A kind of 'High Noon' encounter.

They happen from time to time. And our 'High Noon' is approaching fast.

So the passage, I saw, is really pretty relevant.

Present your prayers. That was the first simple lesson he underlined. Bring the matter to me. Pray about it, and trust that I, the sovereign Lord, will indeed work the whole thing out in ways far better than you fear.

Well, I figured we've been doing that for a while. And it was just like the Lord said, 'Trust me on this one'. I will and I do.

Step number two. Pre-empt all the problems. Be entirely up front and don't try to duck all the issues. That only really complicates things.

Well, again, we've been seeking to do just that for a while. It's hard to think how we could have done anything more in that regard.

Then, thirdly, ponder God's kind providences. There were strange and timely happenings which must have made the brothers wonder what on earth was going on.

And there has been with us a strange and timely providence as well. I can't really say just what that is. But take it from me, it's a very timely providence.

And it's like the Lord was saying in advance - I've got things all in place. Trust me to see this through and sort this out and see it all resolved in ways far better than you'd ever thought were possible.

So I found that pretty re-assuring!

The Lord lets us know what to pray. He shares his heart.

I've still got to battle anxiety until it's all resolved. But this sort of thing from the Lord sets my heart at rest.

He works in wonderful ways. That's for sure.

There's a person who's started to come around us here these past few weeks. I was seeing her here tonight. (Another sort of 'double booking' since I had to skip the second part of a meeting I was at as well).

It's been, I suppose, a sort of 'coming home' after years and years 'on the road'.

She was up at the doctors' here a few weeks back and passed the church and thought she must come in. Which she did, the Sunday following.

Except she arrived as people were leaving (she got the time wrong - the last place she worshipped a long while back the service began at 11.30am).

The fact that there were so many folk and they all seemed to chat with each other - that warmed her heart and made her more eager still to be part of it all.

Which she's been these past few weeks.

She's in touch with friends in the army. Out in Iraq and Afghanistan.

She told them all she's started attending the church. And they've asked her to pray.

And they've started to worship on Sundays as well out there. There's a kind of amazing knock on effect!

And all of a sudden the Lord simply moves things along at the rate of knots.

Who knows where it all will end? We only know it'll be good when it finally does!