Life is made up of many certainties and even more uncertainties. We are creatures who tend to prefer certainty to uncertainty, and as a result often indulge in speculation to try to move from one state to the other. Speculation is the forming of a theory or conjecture without firm evidence, and it’s something that’s been rife over the past few months!

There are many things in Scripture which are crystal clear… but many which are not. That can often be very frustrating for us, for we much prefer certainty to doubt. But many things which God does baffle us. We can’t understand why some die and others are healed, why God intervenes miraculously in some situations and appears to leave us floundering in others. This is nothing new: the early church had to work with the fact that devout leaders Stephen and James were martyred (Acts 7:54-60, Acts 12:1-2), but Peter and John were spared (Acts 4, Acts 12:5-11).

So often, we speculate about things like this; we wonder if one person is more deserving than another, if God has favourites. The truth is that we do not know why. We cannot say that Peter was spared because the church was praying earnestly for him and therefore James was killed because the church didn’t like him as much and didn’t pray! Such speculation is harmful and will never be satisfactory because we simply do not know. As the commentator Maclaren says, ‘this is a question easily asked by us but one that simply cannot be answered by us.’ Tom Wright says this chapter shows us how God’s providence ‘remains both remarkable and inscrutable.’ (‘Acts For Everyone’ Pt 1, P 184)

This is very hard for us to accept. When a loved one is diagnosed with a terminal illness or dies, when we lose a job we were convinced was God’s position for us, when tragedy strikes, we want answers to the question ‘Why?’, but so often, we simply do not have the answers we crave. Instead of then wasting our energy and time on pointless speculation, we need to learn to accept God’s sovereignty and rest on His goodness. Even if life seems unfair and we cannot work out what God is doing or why, we need to cultivate a heart that leans on all we know of His nature and trust in His unfailing love.

Acts 12:1-24 gives us further glimpses into the life of the early church and reminds us that this was a dangerous time to be a Christian. Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great who slaughtered the innocent boys at the time of Jesus’s birth, was no more favourable towards God’s people, trying to keep the Roman peace in the area and therefore wanting to put down any minorities which seemed to threaten this peace. As a result, he had James (brother of John, one of the ‘Sons of Thunder’) executed (Acts 12:1-2) and intended to do the same by Peter (Acts 12:3-4).

It’s striking in this chapter that one of the first disciples (James), who is always linked with his brother John and who was an important apostle, is dismissed from the narrative so swiftly in one sentence (‘He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword’) when the martyrdom of Stephen (whom we only meet in Acts) takes up over a whole chapter! It’s also striking that God intervenes in miraculous ways to deliver Peter from prison, not allowing him to be martyred at this stage in history. We can often feel bewildered as we try to fathom God’s purposes.

Suffering – whether through persecution, imprisonment or even martyrdom – is an inevitable part of the Christian life (see Matt 5:10, Matt 24:9, John 15:20, 2 Cor 4:9, 1 Thess 3:4, 2 Tim 3:12). It’s inevitable because we live in a sinful world among sinful people and because the perfection of the Garden of Eden has been destroyed by sin. But suffering has to be seen in the context of eternity and in the context of God’s glory. Paul said, ‘I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.’ (Rom 8:18) He said, ‘For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’ (2 Cor 4:17-18) Whether by death (James) or by life (Peter’s deliverance from prison), what really counted was that God’s name was glorified. We do well to heed Paul’s words to the Romans: ‘If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.’ (Rom 14:8) Ultimately, that’s all that really matters.

My daily reading notes look at a passage in the Old Testament, one in the New Testament and one in Psalms or Proverbs each day. Today I was reading about the ‘stages’ on the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness. (Numbers 33) That journey took a long time and involved following the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night. The movements of an entire people were dictated to by the presence of God, and it must have been quite unsettling in some ways. No one knew exactly how long they were going to stay in any one place; it might be weeks or months or it might just be a few days. I imagine these people unpacking everything and setting up the Tabernacle and longing for a period of stability… and then having to pack up again and set off with a little bit of a sigh!

Most of us really do crave routine and familiarity at some point; the nomadic lifestyle suits few people long-term. One thing that strikes me, however, as I read the stories of the wilderness wanderings is how utterly dependent the people were on God. Every day was lived with an awareness of His presence, and whilst I often crave a visible sign of HIs presence such as they had, I am aware that we too should be living with a similar awareness of His presence, for He has promised never to leave us or forsake us. (Heb 13:5)

So in these days where our freedom to move is curtailed and we are unsure how long these restrictions will last, I am reminded that what we really need is God’s presence, guiding us and leading us, and that is still available to us all.

‘Where You go, I’ll go
Where You stay, I’ll stay
When You move, I’ll move
I will follow You.

All Your ways are good
All Your ways are sure
I will trust in You alone
Higher than my side
High above my life
I will trust in You alone.’ (‘I Will Follow’, Chris Tomlin)

I’ve put a notice on the church wall explaining the current situation and stressing that it’s the building which is currently closed, not the church.

It’s true that now, more than ever, we need to understand that the ‘church’ is the ‘living stones’ (1 Pet 2:5), the people of God, and not the building which is very convenient to us under normal circumstances! We may not be able to gather together in the building right now, but many of us can still gather together from our homes thanks to the Internet and technology.

Tonight (Thursday 2nd April 2020) we will be meeting together at 7 p.m. via Zoom and Facebook Live for our Bible study, when we are looking at Acts 12 and how God works in mysterious and miraculous ways to help His people. The link for this service is:

https://zoom.us/j/436833313

Meeting ID: 436 833 313

We will also be hosting 15 minutes of prayer as part of the Dearne Churches Together Day of Prayer tomorrow (Friday 3rd April) at 10.45 a.m. on Facebook Live. To access that, go to the Dearne Churches Together Facebook Page and we should be able to connect at that time. We will be looking at 2 Chronicles 7:14 and praying for our nation at this time of pandemic.

This Sunday is Palm Sunday. We’ll be having meetings at 10.30 a.m. and at 6.00 p.m. and it would be great if many of us could make our own palm leaves (out of paper or card?) to wave during the services. I will be reading Dave’s sermon at the morning service (when we will again share Holy Communion, so make sure you’ve got your bread and wine ready!) and JP & Herlen will be doing ‘Little Big Church‘ in the evening, complete with a homemade birthday hat so we can still sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Herlen! (Some traditions are worth keeping!)

One of the things worth stressing is that we are coming soon into Holy Week when we will be remembering the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Good Friday is on 10th April and we are looking at having an online service that day as well as our usual services on Easter Sunday (12th April). Easter is the central focus of our faith and at these times of death and devastation, more than ever we need to rest our whole weight on the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and on the hope we have through His death and resurrection. We are not without hope!

Usually I am fortunate to sleep well; insomnia can be something very difficult to live with, leaving us weary and struggling even as the day begins. When we face difficult and stressful situations, sleep is something that can seem elusive to us as we find it difficult to ‘switch off’ and become more restless through the anxiety. Problems seem so much greater during the night hours; we toss and turn, fretting and worrying without resolving anything.

For many years, I have found comfort in Ps 4:8: ‘In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.’ There is great solace in knowing that God makes us dwell in safety and that He is on the throne, no matter what situations look like to our human eyes. At this present time, it’s more important than ever that we sleep well, entrusting the unknown and the fearful to God’s capable hands.

Jesus gives us an example of this when He is asleep in the boat during a terrible storm (Mark 4:38). No matter what was going on around Him, He could sleep, secure in His Father’s love and power. Peter gives us another example of this in Acts 12. Imprisoned and awaiting probable execution, Peter is found sleeping between guards rather than fretting about his future. (Acts 12:6) The angel had to wake him up forcibly before effecting his release!

Both these examples demonstrate that the peace God gives us is not something theoretical, but something practical. God’s peace means we can lie down and sleep, no matter what else is going on. At these times of isolation, it’s hard to keep routines going and hard to live with structure and order in our lives. I strongly recommend keeping, as far as possible, to normal ‘times’ and to ask God for His blessed gift of sleep. Ps 127:2 says, ‘In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.’ May God grant us the ability to sleep well in these troubled times, secure in His love and care.

The book of Isaiah has many stinging words from God, rebuking His people for their unfaithfulness and disobedience, but when we reach Isaiah 40, we find a change in tone. There, we read, ‘Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.’ (Is 40:1)

God is not only a God of justice and judgment; He is a God of grace and mercy, and one of the ways this is manifested is through tenderness. Like any good parent, He knows when we need rebuke and when we need comfort. He is able to be kind-hearted and compassionate to us. Isaiah goes on to say,

‘Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
² He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
³ A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.’ (Is 42:1-3)

In the same way that God shows tenderness and consideration to us, we need to reflect these characteristics to those around us. Tenderness costs us little but a little goes a long way.