Stand firm in the middle

Last night was bizarre. I really felt the need to get out and go into London, even though it was quite late. There were certain things I wanted to spend some time thinking about and searching for answers for, so decided to head to Regents Park (never been there before, someone suggested it) then come home via Picadilly Circus (never been there before, sounded quite interesting). It occured to me that at that time of night the park wouldn't be open, but I set out anyway. It's clear now that it was Gods idea for me to go out, not mine. I had things I wanted to know, but God had other things that He needed me to know!

I ended up getting off at Westminster (no idea why, I just felt like it at the time). I walked around there for a bit, around Houses of Parliament, then crossed over Westminster Bridge and walked along the river by the London Eye (which is huge when you stand right underneath it and look up!) up to Waterloo.

Actually, I'm getting ahead. At Westminster there was an announcement that part of the Central line was suspended due to a person under a train. God really hammered me with that...just the day before I had been stuck on a tube train because somebody had gone under another train then. I was really challenged by people's brokeness that leads them to do that. There isn't a suicide epidemic going on, so this stuff must happen every day...its just now that I've begun to notice and have a heart for it. I'm thinking TfL needs Chaplains??

When I got to Waterloo I walked under a bridge where there are always homeless people sitting/sleeping/begging. Normally I just walk past, say hi if I can, etc. But last night I really wanted to meet them where they're at, sit with them; buy some food, take it back and spend time sharing a meal with them. I think that came from Roots - the reminder that its not enough to just give token gestures of kindness. Christianity should be messy and we need to be meeting with people where they are. When I got there though I couldn't do it...so many questions rushed through my head; what would I say, would they rather be left alone to sleep, etc. I know that it was the enemy trying to stop me and on that occasion it worked and I was really cross with myself afterwards. Jews have a custom called "shiva", which is part of their mourning ritual. When somebody is bereaved, friends and family spend time (usually a week) sitting with them in their home, doing nothing. There's things that can be learnt from that...maybe not on the religious/legalistic front, but the natural desire to meet with the lost/broken where they are and join them in whatever they are going through. I heard a saying recently, that it's easier to push somebody up when you're at their level than it is to reach down and pull them up.

When I got home I was reading the book of Joshua, and was particularly challenged by chapters 3 and 4. (Too long to quote so follow the link).

"The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground" (ch3 v17). The passage spoke to me about the need for us to be a people willing to stand firm right in the middle of whatever is going on, until the work is done.

Secondly, "the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before" (ch4 v18). Although it is a literal description of what happened (the rest of the chapter goes on to say that God did the same there as He did to the Red Sea in order to demonstrate His power), it challenged me on a different level. We're called to stand firm in the middle of whatever happens, carrying with us the word of God and shepherding people through the valley. As soon as we set our feet on dry/safe/proud ground we're useless and the chaos rages as before.