inkhorn

Fear and Worry – that two-headed monster that rears its ghastly head periodically – was at it again. It’s sibling, Doubt, flit in as well, to add to the party! And as frustrating as it was for me to wage this never-ending battle to subdue them, I wondered how frustrating it must be for God to watch me! Here I was – well-fed, well-dressed and well-read – with a loving family and friends. Yet, even in all that I usually managed to unearth some issue to worry myself silly about. (I think I have a special gift!) So, as Faith took a beating, I tottered and wondered, “I know I should trust God. Rejoice and praise Him for every situation. But the future seems so scary sometimes!” And then I had an epiphany! I realised I was back on the wheelbarrow! I don’t think I ever got off, in the first place! And my Father gently reminded me (oh the patience He has with me!) “The Lord…has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, And as I have purposed, so it shall stan...

There was a moment of blinding revelation as the rose-tinted glasses were wrenched from my eyes and I saw myself for who I was. And with my next breath I started fervently hoping that God suffers fools gladly. Make that singular with a capital F and you have yours truly! I find that I am not good at being led. I always want to be two steps ahead of God if not alongside Him. Which brings us to the inevitable result – me having to learn lessons the hard way with a bump and a crash. As I painfully picked up the pieces, I saw an incongruous image in my mind – God pushing a wheelbarrow and I sitting in it, weeping copiously at just about every situation and circumstance. It would be quite funny if it weren’t so true! And then it struck me. I was facing the wrong way! Sitting and peering into the darkness and uncertainty was what led to the afore-mentioned moment-of-blinding-revelation! I needed to turn and face Him. After all, since He’s pushing the wheelbarrow, my peering ahead isn’t g...

I heard the conclusion of the wheelbarrow story the other day. When the tightrope walker asked for a volunteer to get into the wheelbarrow and be pushed across, several hundred feet off the ground, he was met with complete silence. Finally a little five year-old boy ran forward, got into the wheelbarrow and was pushed across safely. When the little chap got back on terra firma, people gathered around and asked him how he had been so brave. His reply was simple – “But why should I have been afraid? It was my dad who was pushing me!” So I made the momentous decision to get into the wheelbarrow! And I’m being trundled across the tightrope at the moment. The future is very unsure, but sitting in this wheelbarrow, I’m learning several lessons. Waiting patiently for one! I’m not too good at that. My Father and I have had some skirmishes. I want to stand up and assert my independence. All that seems to do is cause the wheelbarrow to wobble dreadfully! I wanted to give up at one point. Wait...

Hi Andrew, I’ve been learning the lesson of faith these past couple of days. I’ll just put down all that I’ve learnt and what has hit me anew… Faith is different from belief. Faith is an action. Jesus says in Matthew that when we have faith as small as a mustard seed, it can move mountains. Faith doesn’t automatically come to us when we accept Jesus into our lives. We have to take the action of planting our faith (seed) and then it grows. Faith cannot be big enough to move a mountain at the seed stage; but when it grows into a tree, it can move anything. So faith has to be nurtured and grown. Which basically means that I should take it one step at a time. Not try to have faith for really big, seemingly impossible problems, immediately. But have faith in the small things, and eventually I will have faith for the big things. God doesn’t expect me to have full-grown tree-sized faith instantly. The story of the Roman centurion, who had faith in Jesus’ power to heal his servant, taugh...