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"But I trust in you, O Lord; I say 'You are my God.' My times are in your hands. My times are in your hands."

Psalm 31: 14,15a

When you feel prompted to pray…

A missionary on furlough told this true story while visiting his home church in Michigan..... While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I travelled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway point. On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine and supplies, and then begin my two-day journey back to the field hospital.

Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of whom had been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same time talked to him about the Lord. I then travelled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident.

Two weeks later I repeated my journey. Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines. He said, “Some friends and I followed you into the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards.”

At this I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone in that jungle campsite. The young man pressed the point, however, and said, “No sir, I was not the only person to see the guards. My five friends also saw them, and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you alone."

At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day this happened. The missionary told the congregation the date, and the man who interrupted told him this story:

"On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong, I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?"

The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary wasn't concerned with who they were, he was too busy counting how many men he saw. There were 26.

Hope for 2012

‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’  (Isaiah 9:6)

At the start of this New Year we are all aware of the uncertainties which we face, especially in terms of our finances, jobs and economic prospects. We have to face the big questions of life: what shall I do?; who can help me?; who cares for me? and what do I say?

The familiar words of the prophet Isaiah were also given by God in a time of political and economic uncertainty. The Assyrians had just conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, fulfilling Isaiah’s warnings to the people, who had turned their back on God and his ways.

However, Isaiah also brings a word of hope, ‘The people walking in darkness have seen a great light’ . For Isaiah, it felt as if the future had already arrived! However, after 700 years the promised child was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. For us, facing a New Year, he continues to be an answer to both our needs and questions:

Wonderful Counsellor: he will give us the wisdom we need, when we have difficult decisions to make at work or home, or in dealing with our finances or future direction.

Mighty God: he will provide the help and strength to face the difficult diagnosis, the family crisis or relationships breakdown, as we trust his plan and purpose for our lives.

Everlasting Father: he cares for us as a father cares for his children, so we can come to him when we feel alone or we are really struggling, knowing that he hears and will answer our prayers.

Prince of Peace: he has secured peace by his cross and resurrection, and so we can find in him true acceptance, forgiveness and peace for our lives, relationships and future.

Therefore at the start of 2012, may ‘our joy be increased’ (3) as for the people in Isaiah’s day. For only Jesus can truly turn our sorrow into joy and save us from the vicious spiral of sin and death. Whatever the mess and mistakes we have made over the past year, he can deal with them. With him both our present and future are secure. This is no pipe-dream, for ‘the zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.’

Keeper of the Spring

The following story was a favourite of the late Rev Peter Marshall, who for several years served as the chaplain of the US Senate.

An old man who lived near an Austrian village high in the Alps was hired by his village council to clear away the debris from the pools of water high up in the mountain crevices.

These pools fed the spring that flowed through the town. So with faithful regularity, year after year, the old man patrolled the pool, removed the leaves and branches, and wiped away the silt.

In time the village became a popular attraction. Swans and ducks floated along the sparkling spring, the mill wheels of various businesses turned day and night, farms were irrigated, and the view of the spring from restaurants was picturesque beyond description.

Then one evening the town council met to review the budget. Someone queried the salary paid to the obscure keeper of the spring. Others joined in: “He is a waste of money. Drop him.” And so they did.

For several weeks, nothing changed. Then in early autumn, the trees shed their leaves. Small branches snapped off and fell into the pools. Down in the village, they soon noticed a slight yellowish-brown tint in the water. Soon a slimy film covered sections of the stream. The mill wheels got entangled with twigs. Soon the stench of rotting vegetation in the water drove away the swans and ducks and the tourists.

In a panic, the village council met. Quickly they set off to visit the old man, and pleaded with him to keep the spring clean again. Within a few weeks, the village’s ‘river of life’ began to clear up. The water ran pure and clear, the birds returned, the mill wheels turned, and even the tourists came back.

Are there leaves of anger, twigs of resentment, or a silt of unforgiveness clogging your spring of living water? Just as little by little the stream became contaminated by debris, so our spirits can become obstructed by the ‘small sins’ of daily life. Let’s allow our Keeper of the Spring to do his job in renewing and cleansing us, so that we can ‘run free’ and bring blessing to others.