Letter from the prayer trenches’

Dear Friends,

No ‘Easy Way’?

It was recently the 70th Anniversary of the infamous ‘Peace in our time’ claim that Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain made on his return from Munich after meeting Hitler and Mussolini and signing the ‘Munich Agreement’. It effectively gave the Nazis part of Czechoslovakia – but without the Czech Government’s agreement.

‘Peace with honour’ was also the claim, despite the fact that the Prime Minister had conspired to betray a country with which Great Britain had no quarrel.  

The ‘Piece of Paper’ waved by Chamberlain as he got off the plane on 30th September 1938 was to prove absolutely worthless as two of the co-signatories had no ‘honour’ or any intention of stopping their rampage through Europe.

In less than a year we had been plunged into the Second World War.
Someone had to take control, lead, direct and inspire. Winston Churchill was called to become Prime Minister of the National Government and ‘the rest is history’.  
There was never going to be an ‘Easy Way’ of dealing with such Dictators and fanatical aggression. As we know, an extremely hard 6 years of ‘blood sweat and tears’ resulted.

The current Credit Crisis has some parallels:-

For the last 30 years or so, we in Western Society have grown our expectations so that things once considered luxuries are now seen as essential ‘lifestyle’ items. [I’m sure that we can all think of several]
Years of encouragement have convinced us to ‘enjoy now – pay later’. We were told to get into Shares, trust Private Finance and admire the skill of Fund Managers. We were rewarded with bigger and better credit limits on our ‘Plastic’.

The ‘Pieces of Paper’, such as Share Certificates, which many of us have, may not actually be worthless but may now have little or no value.                       
                                                                                                              
In less than a year we have been plunged into a Global crisis. We have seen Directors at the forefront of banking, with salaries like telephone numbers, become ‘victims’ overnight. It is easy to rush to judgement, but remember John 7 v 1-2: ‘Do not judge or you too will be judged….’ Instead let us remember in our prayers the ‘Ordinary’ people at risk of having their homes re-possessed or seeing their savings rapidly losing value.

Again someone has had to take control, show clear leadership and gain accord with other Countries. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has emerged, certainly as the leader in Europe and is held in high regard Worldwide. It certainly supports the old adage ‘a week is a long time in Politics’. Let us remember our elected representatives in our prayers and seek God’s blessing on them and the granting to them of wisdom, integrity and determination. May they be very mindful of the growing plight of the ‘Developing World’ due to this crisis and seek to avoid this worsening when trying to ‘fix’ the major economies.

There is not going to be an ‘Easy Way’ of getting out of this current problem. We may face years of turmoil, belt tightening, rising unemployment and we may have to leave behind many of the things that we have got used to over the past 30 years.

Do we expect our Christian Life to be an ‘Easy Way’? Do we expect special treatment during all these troubles?
I think not. We may not be ‘of the World’ but we are ‘in the World’ and still have to deal with the ups and downs of life.
The days may indeed appear dark both because of the bleak economic outlook as well as the time of year – the clocks have gone back and the shortest day is rapidly approaching.

Yet, by the grace of God we do have hope:-

We do have the many ‘Pieces of Paper’ which together form the Word of God and which have a worth far more than all the gold or silver in the World’s reserves. I remember Scripture Union at school and learning the motto from Psalm 119 v 105: ‘Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path’. What a great picture that is of making our way along a dark road and avoiding falling into the potholes and tripping on the rough bits!

We do have the promise of Our Lord that He will take control of our lives and lead, direct and inspire us along our journey through life. In John 14 v 6 Jesus answers Thomas’s question ‘…how can we know the way?’ by saying ‘I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’.
 
We do have the promise of the Holy Spirit to be within us and enable us to meet and overcome the difficulties ahead. In John 14 v 15-17 Jesus promises the disciples that He will ask the Father to send ‘the Counsellor, the Spirit of truth’. In Acts 2 v 1-4 we read of The Holy spirit coming at Pentecost. But what can that mean in our lives today? In Titus 3 v 4-6 we are brought face to face with the gift of Salvation: ‘But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour’. Wow!

So, let’s lift our own heads up, start looking out for others who may be ‘down’ at the moment and, with God’s help, give them ‘a word in season’ to bring some hope and cheer into their lives. Remember Paul’s direction to the early church in Romans 12 v 13: ‘Share with God’s people who are in need. Practise hospitality’. This will certainly make the Way Easier for all of us!

Robert Gardiner