Back to the future...1

"Jesus replied to them, 'If you had 
faith trust and confidence in God 
even so small like a grain of mustard 
seed you could say to this mulberry
tree, be pulled up by the roots and be 
planted in the sea, and it would 
obey you.'"  (AMPC )     Luke 17:6

"'And whatever you ask in prayer,
believing, you will receive.'"
                    (AMPC)      Matt.21:22

We talk in life about taking one step forward and two back, but let’s believe for two steps forward and only one back.   Every day we gain knowledge in one form or another.  Be it daily life from trying out a new recipe to understanding the latest technology.  And hopefully we will never be too old to learn.

Several years ago I wrote a series on this blog about being in a potting shed with the Lord.  Not a natural place for me being city born and bred, but it was fascinating to meditate on that with Him over the months.  Two years ago, I posted a picture of a friend’s garden having been dug up to lay a patio. It was a hot and wet summer, and before they could begin work seeds sown years before germinated, rooted and within six weeks grew into five foot tree like bushes and took over her garden.  To me it was an encouragement that seeds sown, even in word and deed, given the right conditions, at the right time will germinate and take root.

I always ask the Lord to inspire my writing, and as I shall be away throughout August and September I asked Him for a series I could post in advance. The Lord speaks to me in a variety of ways, often in that semi-conscious state as I awake in the morning. This time it was with the film title, “Back to the Future.” As I considered those words, I saw that those who were counted righteous through their faith had an idea of the call on their life, but often felt they were going backwards instead of forward. 

At a mid-week meeting recently I was surprised, yet delighted, when we sang an adaption of the Elvis Presley song, “Take my hand, take my whole life too, For I can't help falling in love with you.”  When I became a Christian I’d sing secular love songs to the Lord, and I found singing that still fills me with overwhelming love and joy at being His. 

That reminded me of a CD which fifteen years ago had a major impact on my life.  Recorded from seven continual hours of worshipping the Lord when the band ran out of songs someone began to sing, “I want to hold your hand.”  As the musicians took up the song, a pillar of light formed on the stage its power causing them to fall on their faces.  In the silence came a wind, or breath of God picked up by the microphones.  

Next month I’ll start the series of the Biblical characters whose faith have impacted my life as they have held on to their beliefs when either things went horribly wrong, or found the years passing without any sign of what they envisioned coming to pass. The lesson I learnt was hang on, everything is part of God’s plan, purpose and preparation for a future we’ve hoped for, but as yet only glimpsed.   

                                                                                                             Ruth Johnson