At the start of this term (the term of my final university exams), I was directed to this verse by a Bible-reading plan entitled, 'The Lies of Busyness'. Psalm 39.6a says this, "We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing" (NLT). How did the writer of this Psalm, all those thousands and thousands of yeas ago, know so clearly what life would be like today?! I think this is one of my biggest fears when I think about the future: that all my busyness achieves nothing; that I don't make a difference to anyone; that I don't change or do anything. It's easy to think when each day is taken up with writing essay after essay on obscure topic after obscure topic! And to be honest, a lot of my busyness IS pointless! When I busy myself making more lists of what I need to do, or busy myself in procrastination, even when I busy myself so much with work that I neglect the people around me.
Busyness in and of itself is not a bad thing. I would hate it if I spent day after day doing nothing; I could always find something to busy myself with! "But busyness requires intention," as the Bible-reading plan so adequately put it. ... And then, after I'd painted on my shadows rushing around, and the busy dashes heading in every direction, ending in nothing, my eyes were drawn to the end of verse 7. "My hope is in you." (ESV). Sometimes I can't see what my busyness is headed for, but my hope and my intention is in God and therefore I will follow where he leads me and do what he challenges me to do. So I painted on a red dashed line. One which umm-ed and ahh-ed in curves and points, U-turns and spirals, but one which was drawn inexplicably along by the hope and light that comes only from God. MY PRAYER: Lord, amidst the busyness of this exam term, may my hope and the intention of all my actions be found in you. Guard me from pointless busyness and challenge me to live busy with a purpose; YOUR purpose. My hope IS in you. AMEN.
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Well. Easter kind of rushed my by this year. With it being so early, I was only just home from university a day or so before Good Friday, and I hadn't felt I'd really had the time to prepare for it. But, as dates usually do, Easter Sunday came along and happened, and then I went back to writing my coursework, which I need to get done before going back for my finals this term! But then I was reminded this morning, as I suppose is a classic reminder for the week after Easter; it doesn't end there. Our current readings at church are going through John's Gospel. On Easter Sunday we had the tomb being empty and Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene in the garden; this morning he appeared to the disciples in the locked room, and then again when Thomas was with them; and next week is Jesus appearing for breakfast by the Sea of Galilee where he reinstates Peter.
What I LOVE about this time - about these readings! - is that it tells of a God who comes to us. A God who meets us where we are; with all our fears and doubts, our irrational panics, our blunders and mistakes - and the scars and consequences that remind us of them. Mary seems like she hasn't stopped crying since Jesus died; the disciples, fearful and wondering if there was anything they could've - should've - done, are hiding in a locked room; and Peter probably can't bear even thinking of what he did when instead of standing up for Jesus, he denied he ever knew him at all. We all have times when we're not very strong. When we fall into doubts about the life God might have for us, in the face of the societal norms around us. When we can't see the hope of what God is doing, because the situation in front of us is just too bleak and dismal. But it is in precisely this moment that God comes to us and wraps us in his love again. He calls our name; he offers us the chance to know him more; and he gives us his work to do, in the power of his love, and in entirely his strength. That is the God that came to earth and rose again - the God who always with us. |
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AuthorI'm a recent Cambridge Theology graduate now studying for a Masters in Biblical Studies and blogging about all sorts of things! I'm interested in faith, Church, theology, social action, the great outdoors and being creative, and all of those things - along with many more - come through in my posts!
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