When it feels like the world is spinning out of control, where does our hope come from?
Here's Rev. Andy Humm, vicar at St George & St Paul Tiverton, with our latest blog post.
This week's news has been full of headlines, from promises and statements and future hope from Glasgow and the COP26 summit, and of course speculation about whether these promises will be kept.
We fell silent on Thursday as we remembered the Armistice and those who had given their lives during past conflict, as well as those still serving and affected by war. We of course continue to pray for peace, yet we are mindful of the continuing conflict in many parts of our world.
How do we hold these two things together? Perhaps it feels like your world is spinning out of control?
Yet there is hope in the Bible, We hear these words - 'The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.' (Colossians 1:15,16).
If you've ever wondered about God's posture towards you, all you have to do is look at the way Jesus responded to the hurting people around Him. The love and gentleness we see in Jesus is an exact representation of the kindness present in God the Father.
'He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.' (Colossians 1:17).
Sometimes we tend to think of the world as a bunch of systems set into place and operating automatically, but that might not be true.
In his book, 'Orthodoxy,' G. K. Chesterton says it like this, "It is possible that God says every morning, 'Do it again' to the sun; and every evening, 'Do it again' to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."
The image of Jesus holding all things together in such an intimate, hands-on fashion is beautiful and the idea that He delights in doing so, should be empowering. God didn't simply create you and leave you to fend for yourself. He's intimately involved in your day-to-day life.
It might seem like your world is coming apart, that the climate change agenda (which we are preaching on this month) fills you with fear, or that the memory of peace may fade - but don't be afraid to put yourself in His hands. Not only is He capable of putting your life back in order, but He can be trusted to keep it together.
As we trust, we can hope, and as our hope grows, we step into playing our part in making a difference in saving our planet and in making peace.
Andy