Rectory Ramblings…

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.”      (Psalm 23:1-2)

I was expecting August to be a quiet month, a chance to catch up with some long overdue reading, and a few days holiday in Lancashire. But alas it wasn’t to be. At the end of July our son’s first flat purchase finally went through, and much of August was spent travelling between King’s Cliffe and Banbury as we helped him move out of our house and into his own new home. My plans for a restful summer month went out of the window, and I seemed to be doing more driving, and more juggling of family and work, than ever. But then a long time ago, I remember hearing somebody say if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. We may make our plans, whether they are to move on to new things or to keep on doing what we are doing now. But however carefully we put them together, rarely do our plans work out exactly as, well, planned! 

Change is never easy, whether it is changing schools, changing jobs, leaving home or moving house. However carefully we have prepared, and whatever we imagine it will be like, any change is a step into uncharted territory for us. The gap between one thing finishing and the next starting, and the gap between the times of planning and times of activity, can be fearful times of waiting, uncertainty, doubt and challenge. But with God, we are not going into uncharted territory. He knows both where we have come from and where we are going to. So, coping with the fear and uncertainty that comes with change involves trusting that everything will work out for the best in the end, even if we do have to weather a few storms or change our plans on the way. 

The twenty-third psalm talks of God as a Shepherd. One of the shepherd’s jobs was to lead the sheep to new water and new pastures when the old ones were no longer able to sustain the flock. To do so they would have to lead the sheep through unfamiliar and perhaps dangerous terrain. Only by trusting and following the shepherd would the sheep be protected and comforted. The word comfort actually has nothing to do with soft squashy armchairs that keep us glued to where we are sitting. It comes from the French “with strength” (think fort as in a soldier’s stronghold). Trusting in God to carry us through gives us hope for the future and strength for the journey.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)

                                Revd Eddie