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THE OTHER HALF the other half
Driving to church on Sunday, a car pulled out quite sharply in front of us just after we left home and then turned into the church car park ahead of us and took our space! Obviously we parked somewhere else, but I was a bit rattled. We went to church and, would you believe it, someone was sitting in our seats? (This is beginning to sound like Goldilocks and the Three Bears). They were friends of ours and insisted on moving along so we could all sit together but I had a suspicion that God was going to continue the nudging. Sure enough, as we said the Lord’s Prayer together I found myself concentrating on “that we may forgive those who trespass against us” and I realised that that was exactly how I felt. People had trespassed against me. (This is thinking of “trespass” as being where they shouldn’t be). they had invaded MY space - space that I had claimed for myself by habit. One of our children had always amused us when he was very small, because he used to say “Don’t look at me, that’s my space!” But it was not amusing to find myself responding to situations in a similar way. It is very easy to become locked into one’s systems out of habit. (I’ve found several others already and it’s only Tuesday). There’s no problem with organisation of course, but the problem comes when resentment becomes our response to change or challenge. It’s so easy to be loving and generous when everything is as it should be and we feel secure in our “space”, but it’s very sad if that is what we need to be Christlike. I wonder. If I’m claiming all this space around me for my comfort
and security, does that mean that I’m pushing God outside? Do
I feel that He’s upsetting my carefully organised existence?
Probably. Would I rather have a pre-structured life (organised by
me) or an exciting “go with the flow” daily adventure organised
by God? To be honest, both have attractions! Seriously, I think there’s
room for both - the trouble only starts when my structure affects
my personality instead of allowing the fruit of the Spirit to show. “Take seeds of His Spirit, let the fruit grow, Tell the people of Jesus, let His love show” Church can be very instructive - God doesn’t just speak through homilies! Sue Whitehead
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