2016 - Dwelling Spaces

Thursday 22 December 2016

The God who sees me


Image result for afghan girl with green eyes
(Photo: Steve McCurry, National Geographic)













“I feel like God has seen me.” These words were spoken to me by one of the women after the Free Range Chicks conference in November. We had had a wonderful couple of days, and it is this simple but powerful statement has stayed with me. When she said it, I thought immediately of Hagar in Genesis 16. Pregnant and alone, she has fled from abuse into the wilderness. And there, by a spring, God sends an angel to her who tells her about the son she will have, and tells her she must return to the camp. The encounter leads her to worship this God who has seen her. What an amazing thing!


Hagar was a woman, a slave, pregnant and vulnerable. Running from the people she knew, she would have had no hope for the future. It was likely that she and the baby would have been killed if they had been found, or they would’ve died in the wilderness. She was worthless in the sight of the world. But one who looks with different eyes had seen her. The God who seeks out the one missing sheep, the God who comes to seek and save the lost, this God was watching. The effect of this God seeing her, telling her He knew all about her, and giving her hope for the future was powerful. She calls God ‘the God who sees me’ or ‘who looks after me’, and wonders how she can still be alive despite having seen this God herself. An encounter with God the Almighty One should have been the final straw meaning certain death for someone who thought they were worthless, but it is the opposite. Suddenly she realises that she has value in the eyes of God. God has found her, and literally turns her life around, sending her back with purpose. When we allow ourselves to be seen by God, it opens our eyes to who we really are. God is our Creator and so understands utterly who we are. He has mercy on our failings and reveals who He has called us to be. This can and should give us the confidence to become that woman or man. It is a powerful gift to be seen for who we really are.


As we move towards Christmas in the rush of life, my prayer for you is that you will find a moment to be still. Perhaps take that moment now to pause and become aware of God with you. Become aware that this is the God who sees you. And allow that realisation to change you. The God who sees you is the one who loves you. This Christmas time this is God’s gift to you, that you are seen, really seen, by Him.




Wednesday 31 August 2016

The Olympic Spirit


Once again I find myself captivated by the Olympic Games. There is something about seeing representatives from 200+ countries (and this year a team of refugees) all together in one place that makes me think of how wonderfully varied our world is, and how amazing it is that people can be drawn together in this way. What has particularly stood out to me this year is the competitors talking about the years of hard work and sacrifice that have gone into getting them ready. Some have spoken about training towards this moment for 8 years or more. And it got me thinking about what qualities the medal winners have that make them the best in the world. I am sure you can probably think of your own list, but these are some that have struck me, and that encourage me to think about my own journey of faith.
  • They know what they are good at and they train to get better at it – one of the women’s judo champions had tried 5 different sports before she settled on judo, but once she did that and focused on her training she has become the best! We are all good at something, but it is often hard not to compare ourselves with others and to want to be good at something different. But it is important to value the gift(s) that we have and to develop them, that way we make the contribution that is uniquely ours to make. Romans 12.4-8 talks about how we each offer a different gift and encourages us to use them well.
  • They persevere – the GB team pursuit cyclists talked about how they hadn’t won any competitions in the last 4 years, but they kept going, working on changing and improving the smallest things, even removing their rings when they cycled, training long days and even through holidays. They won the gold in a tense final that saw them behind until a last huge effort pushed them into the winning time. 2 Peter 1.5-7 says make every effort to add to your faith, and one of the things to add is perseverance. Life and faith are not straightforward and the ability to keep going through the tough times, to keep trusting in the goodness of God can be a huge challenge. We need to encourage each other to keep going, to persevere.
  • They fix their eyes on the goal – winning a medal at the Olympics dominates the thinking of the competitors for years. Mo Farah talks about dreaming as a child about winning an Olympic medal, he won nothing in 2008, another 4 years of training led to great success in London 2012, but his eyes had been fixed on the medal for a long time. Hebrews 12.2-3 talks about fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Considering all Jesus has done for us helps us not to grow weary and lose heart.

Wednesday 20 April 2016

Half-light

The misty mornings of late have been stirring the poet in me. As a young girl I was inspired by my English teacher and she encouraged me to read Yeats among other things and even after 30+ years it's fascinating how lines pop back into my head. This morning the mist had me reciting 'of night and light and the half-light' from his poem 'He wishes for the cloths of heaven'.  

That phrase 'half-light' got me thinking about my life at the moment. Being in transition between one place and another is a strange time somehow. I know that Bristol and college life is coming to an end, and growing on the horizon is my new home and life as a curate. Neither have yet gone or arrived and yet the presence of both feels very real. And in this place of half-light there are dreams. Dreams about ending well and dreams about what the future holds. And it is a place where you feel a little more vulnerable. So tread softly.


And here is the poem in full:

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
WB Yeats