Slowing Down

I was struck recently by these words of Scripture in Isaiah:

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength … The Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion.  For the Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for him.”

(Is 30:15,18)

The whole feel of what God is saying here to Isaiah is about slowing down, resting and being quiet before God. We read that those who wait for God will be blessed. 

How different this is to our culture where we are pumped with the message that we need to have it all now. I’ve been in a number of conversations with people (a bit older than myself) who reflect on their adult children needing to have all the creature comforts now. Somewhere in the conversation is usually the statement that “in my day” we made do, we saved and we were happy. How far has this culture of “we need it now” infiltrated the church? 

We want to see growth – by next Sunday; we want to see God act – now; we need to do the church extension - this year. Of course God can and does act quickly, but more often our experience would tell us, as He told Isaiah, that we need to “wait, rest and trust.”  

In May we will be hosting a number of Spiritual Transformatin Seminars with Mindy Caliguire from the Willow Creek Association in the US, complimented by our own Rev Dr Keith Farmer leader of the Mentoring Network, who will help us explore the health of our souls and how we can engage with God and others in ways that nurture a “peace filled” spirit. We would love you to be part of these days.

Andrew McCafferty

CEO