What time is it?

“Do we turn the clocks forward or back?” 

Twice each year we all face this compelling and challenging question, and last weekend was my opportunity to get it right or make a monumental mistake! 

You guessed it!  I got it wrong. 

The reason I got it wrong was because I had spent a significant period of time explaining State Politics to my son and I had used up all my available brain cells for the day!  When it came to the time to wind the clocks, confusion was inadequate and bewilderment was my only option. 

I tried to answer the challenge; I wanted it lighter in the morning and darker at night…I thought it through, discussed it with my wife, checked on the internet and then made my decision…wrong!

The following morning I woke up at 7.00am only to realise that it was in fact 5.00am and for the rest of the day I was well and truly out of sync!

Knowing the time is an important skill that we usually master in kindergarten but the dials on the clock face are not the only ‘times’ we have to understand.  

Solomon said “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:”    Ecclesiastes 3:1

Our lives have times and seasons: work opportunities; relationships; working hard; and resting.  If we don’t understand what time it is we tend to make mistakes and mishandle the time we have.  Our Spiritual lives also have an element of ‘timing’ attached, failing to know what the ‘Spiritual Time’ is, will leave you lost and confused. 

 “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”  2 Corinthians 6:2 

How do you take your water?

I went out for the simple task of buying a bottle of water.  It used to be that you would find the bottled water on one part of one shelf but as I looked around I was assailed by a fridge full of choices all demanding my attention. 

Buying water is all about choice: The first choice I had to make was ‘did I want still or carbonated’?  Then, did I want ‘spring or filtered’?  And finally I had to decide which flavour did I want?  Lime, lemon, blackberry or citrus? 

As I thought about this I was taken by a question.  When does a drink of water become a fruit juice?  How much fruit juice needs to go in before it is no longer ‘water’?  I consulted my fridge at home and confirmed that the generic brand ‘fruit juice drink’ has not less than 25% juice. So my ‘flavoured water’ must have significantly less again.  But it must have some, and it must make a difference or else people wouldn’t buy it…would they? So it is a matter of putting in just enough to make a difference but not too much that it changes everything.

Unfortunately people do this with the Lord all the time.  They allow just enough of His influence into their lives so that they ‘feel Him’ but not enough that He actually changes them.  What the Lord is looking for is not people who are ‘watered down’ with only a hint of flavour about them but people who are the ‘real thing’, ‘full strength’ and unashamed!

What flavour are you?

Change is as good as a holiday????

“Change is as good as a holiday…?”

What would I rather be doing?  Packing boxes or sitting by a pool with one of those paper umbrellas in my drink?   Would I rather paint the eaves or visit the
Nile and the Pyramids?  Would I rather buy a new shirt or spend three weeks in the Nepalese Alps? No…I think a holiday is definitely better than change! 

The problem is that we are not always on holidays but things are always changing.  If you are not good at embracing change you end up quite out of sorts.  Change brings excitement, possibilities and freshness but it can also bring fear, insecurity and a huge sense of loss.   My life is going through a big change at the moment and how I respond to that change will determine how well I do into the future.     What makes a holiday so good is when you travel with someone you love and trust visiting somewhere you want to see.  The Lord says of Himself “I am the Lord, I do not change!”  I can’t think of a better candidate for taking along with you in your life when you are facing change.  Though everything else might be shifting sand or in massive upheaval, He remains constant and trustworthy.   

After 16 years in Berowra we have relocated our ministry to Hornsby.  We will continue to be reaching into this wider community with the great message of the Gospel – and I will still be with you each week for Priceless Pearls. 

Maths Anxiety

Researchers in San Francisco have found that that if you worry about getting a maths problem wrong you will actually limit your mental capacity for working out the problem.  This phenomenon is called “maths anxiety” and we have probably all suffered from it at some point.  I know that when I am helping my kids with their homework they fall into this trap because they are so focussed on getting the right answer that they obsess about it and cannot think straight to find the solution. The real answer to the problem is to relax, realise that you really are OK, and then the solution will usually present itself.  

A lot of people tend to approach life in the same way.  They get so caught up with worrying about the details and getting everything right that they actually inhibit their lives and fail to find the full enjoyment of living.   This is not a new phenomenon just as I am sure that ‘maths anxiety’ is not new; this has been a problem for at least the last 2000 years…Jesus said… “I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?Jesus gave a solution then which still works as well today… “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”. Don’t make the mistake of missing your life because you are worrying about it!