The minister writes…. from our June 2023 newsletter
Dear friends,
‘That which was lost is found!’
I mislaid my keys the other day – the keys to my car, the house, the garage and some other keys (of indeterminate-but-no-doubt-very-important purpose).
I’m not the kind of person who normally loses keys because they’re always kept in one of two places – either my handbag or the key rack. Only they weren’t. And believe me, I looked through that handbag multiple times, eventually emptying it out and finding a lot of things I didn’t know were in there, including a metal tape measure, a split herbal tea bag, a vial of anointing oil(!) and some gone-soft polo mints. But no keys. Definitely.
Of course it wasn’t a convenient time to lose them. Well, obviously it wouldn’t be, but this was particularly inconvenient as I was due to lead worship and needed to get to the church. In the end I had to phone someone to come and pick me up (Mike being away) and I made it with ten minutes to spare, but flustered and preoccupied. Where could those keys be??
Perhaps you’ve lost something important too? Maybe keys, or a wallet, your phone, a passport, a certificate? If so you will know the feelings of frustration and anxiety and then, when finally found, the relief and joy.
It reminded me of the story of the woman who lost one of her ten silver coins (no doubt part of her dowry) and swept and cleaned her home from top to bottom until she eventually found it and invited her neighbours for a party, she was so happy! Jesus used that parable to illustrate the joy in heaven when one lost soul is restored. And how much more important are people than possessions?
I wonder if there’s been a time in your life when it wasn’t some thing that you mislaid but your self or your faith? A time when you wandered away? Perhaps you stopped coming to church because there was something else that got in the way on Sundays. Or maybe you continued to come but you felt lost inside? Like what you’d always believed no longer fitted where you were at. Your once-simple faith could not provide the answers to the questions that your life circumstances were throwing at you. Why has someone I love got cancer? Why am I constantly dealing with a problem that won’t go away? Why do I feel depressed when everyone around me seems to be happily getting on with life? Why am I still grieving years later? Why has God gone silent on me?
If so, you are not alone. Sometimes as Christians we feel we can’t admit that, actually, life is a bit rubbish at the moment or that we’re questioning our faith. Yet it’s only when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable and confess that we’re struggling that help can be given.
If you’re in that situation now, please talk to someone: me, your pastoral visitor, a trusted friend. Someone who will listen without judging, someone who can pray for you when you can’t find the words to pray yourself. And when those times occur, when it seems as if God is far away, remember he never is. Just we become closed off to his presence and forget – or can’t believe – that he is waiting and watching for us, longing only to embrace us again with his love. And to rejoice that we are home once more.
Oh ……my keys? Yes, I did find them. They were in the place I keep the dogs’ leads and collars. Obviously.
With every blessing,
Sharon