Friends

Looking back…. Looking forward

I wonder what you remember from 2011?  Did you have a good year?  Were there perhaps any major achievements or problems you faced?  Looking back were there times when you wondered where God was in some of the events close to your heart?

I know that I have been privileged over the past 12 months to be alongside individuals and families during particularly hard and difficult times, and also to be alongside people at times of celebration.

As we look forward to a new year, I wonder whether we do so with foreboding or anticipation.  Already I know of people who will walk a hard path this year, but a hard path is not the same thing as an impossible one.  Looking back on my own life I can say without hesitation that some of the hardest times have also been the most fruitful.  I be-lieve above all in a God incarnate – a God who walks alongside us during the hard times, who understands what it is like and is there for us when we need a hand to hold onto, and a voice of comfort and support.

When I was a much younger Christian, an older and wiser woman gave me these verses from the Old Testament:

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”                                     Jer 29 v11   (NIV)

It seems simplistic I know, where is ‘freewill’ in all of this?  I know.  But I also know the truth of the promise, that God does have a plan for our lives, and rather like any family, the plans of parents and children often differ! – but that does not stop the loving arrangement between the two.  As we get older we understand what we failed to do at the time – that our parents (as in God) want the best for us, and at the times we need Him most, He is there for us.

Have a happy, healthy and prosperous New year.                                                      Alan