Pastor’s Pen: ‘May God fill your life with peace and joy’

Start packing up your winter woollies for spring is just around the corner!

March 20 is the official first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. Perhaps you find that hard to believe, after all we were expecting to be snowed in for three months and we haven’t seen much snow YET!

We have been fortunate here in contrast to the folk living in the south of England who have suffered greatly from flooding and storms. How ever we are suffering, what ever hard times we are facing, it is important to remember that God has a springtime in store for us and for our tired world.

“Behold I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:5). On the other side of our shattered hopes and dreams, God promises something wonderful and transformative, something which will make us forget the tears and pain, the abuse and cruelty, which we see in this world.

How will God’s springtime break into our unsuspecting world? Could you give yourself over to the spontaneous joy of God’s Kingdom?

God has given us hearts and minds to experience His joy, His joy in creation, human, animal and natural. When did you last give yourself over to pure joy?

Jesus said: “I have come that they might have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10). Sadly we let the burdens of life drain us, close us to the possibility of abundant life.

At lent we ponder on the passion of Christ and with it our own spiritual journey. We examine our lives and try to eliminate those things which separate us from God.

Did you know that joylessness could separate you from God? It is something worth meditating on in the weeks that follow. When did you last experience pure ‘joy’ in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Wherever you and your families are on your personal journeys, may God fill the darkest places of your life with His light, His joy and His peace - in the words of the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness may he give you - “Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.”