2020 felt like it lasted forever. Days felt like weeks, weeks like months. “Stay home, make space, protect the NHS” All meant to ensure that life could get back to ‘normal’. Back to the way life used to be.

There is no doubt that there are elements of ‘normal’ that will be celebrated when they are possible again. I wouldn’t say that I go around hugging every person I see, but I long to hug friends again. I can’t wait until I can simply sit and have a coffee with someone without feeling that I need to get my mask back on quickly. Perhaps even to have someone visit and sit on the sofa for an hour or two and just chew the fat.

I was watching a video earlier and it struck me that perhaps there are some things that we should leave behind in the depths of 2020. 

I’m sure you will be able to think of things that you used to do religiously that now you are prevented from doing them, there is a certain release, and ultimately a calm that has developed.

God is able to turn any situation to good. That isn’t to say that God sends storms into our life just to show us how amazing He is. He isn’t like that. The question is, are we able to trust that He will do that? Are we willing to wait until He makes it good again? 

Is it possible that during this time He is giving us a bit of a shake? Challenging us to examine whether we are trusting Him, or trusting in our ‘normality’ and ‘familiarity’ to get us through the day? Is our trust truly in His ability or do we only turn to Him when there is a storm to navigate? 

Abraham and Sarah waited decades for a son. Joseph was sold into slavery then thrown in prison before God raised him up. The Israelites spent 400 years in Egypt before the Exodus. God appeared to be silent for 400 years before sending Jesus.

Waiting seems to be ‘normal’ in the Kingdom. 

We have waited a year. 

It feels like forever. It has been too long for some. 

I believe it is time to take a careful look at where our trust is. 

Are we looking to the promise (God will make it good) or to the Promiser (God is Good)? 

If the lockdown that has been imposed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic has done anything it has made me exercise. (that, and a watch that reminds me to move, stand and exercise and ‘rewards’ me for doing so) 

I always feel better after a brisk walk, but it is never my first choice (that would be sitting on the sofa with my feet up). 

Today we tried something a little different. We downloaded an App, and tried geocaching for the first time. We searched for small tins and boxes hidden throughout the valley near where we live. Once found, we ‘logged’ our finds, and hid them again for others to find.

Doing this in winter holds the challenge of lots of mud, which, especially on a hill is really quite slippery. One can never be sure if the next step will be the one that results in a fall. Where you plant your feet has to be considered carefully. Even the correct footwear doesn’t seem to guarantee that you will navigate the path without a fall. Today I was wearing boot with good tread, but that was quickly filled with sticky mud. It was like walking on an ice rink in bare feet.

The past 12 months has felt pretty similar to walking on mud with no grip. Each week has brought new challenges, with new levels of restrictions and new opinions as to the implications of those. Just when we got to a point on the journey where the mud wasn’t so bad, where there felt like there was a little bit of respite, we were told that just ahead there was more mud, even deeper and more slippery than that which we had already tentatively navigated.

The seasons will change though. Spring will come (perhaps the odd shower) followed by summer where we hope the ground will dry out and make journeys easier. 

I suppose the point I am trying to make is that how easy it is to make headway, to ensure that we don’t fall and get messed up, depends very much on what is underfoot.  

For far too many people, life has been turned upside down by Covid-19. Whether simply because movement has been restricted or feeling the loss of a loved one, it will be some time before anything resembling normal will be possible. I believe that even though we have all experienced changed, some have been able to cope more than others. Those of us with a faith in a God can lean on the sure and certain knowledge that He is able to keep us from falling.

Psalm 40 tells us that when we wait for the Lord, He will turn to us and hear us. When we are walking through boggy ground, crying out to God to help us is OK. We aren’t expected to do it all by ourselves. He is able to pick us up and set our feet upon solid rock. He can and will give us a path through things may be difficult to get through. 

Knowing what is under our feet can bring a confidence and peace that others don’t have. 

Chances are they will ask you how. Be sure that you tell them.

A friend posted part of a verse from John 15:5 a few days ago. It says, “I am the vine; you are the branches.”

I am sure that will be familiar to many of us. 

Those who have read the bible a lot will know that it is possible to read the same verse several times, and then suddenly find that there is a different angle to it, a facet that you haven’t noticed before. Sometimes it is something you’ve seen before, and it is the Holy Spirit giving you a nudge, letting you know that it’s time to look again, to reconsider and to adjust our thinking.

I suppose like many of us, I spend a lot of time thinking about Coronavirus. The virus that we were told would be beaten by the middle of last year, has persisted and is fighting back. Hospitals are busier than ever, and restrictions on movement and contact with other humans have been curbed to levels which threaten the mental health of many. It is unsurprising that it has become an all-consuming thought for large number of people.

“How are we going to beat it?”  “What are the rules today?”  “How can I push them to the limit?” “Why aren’t the government doing more?”  “Why are the government trying to control me?” 

All understandable questions. These are unprecedented times we are living in.

What I realised, at least for me, was I perhaps had begun to apply the verse at the beginning of this post round the wrong way.

When I try and control things, when I try to figure it all out myself what I find myself doing is assuming I am the vine, and He is simply an add on, something that I will feed when I take care of all the other things going on.

What I have also discovered is that doing things this way never works out for the best. (I did already know this, it’s just that as a human I tend to forget sometimes) It turns out God knows what He is doing. He hasn’t put things in place to control us, but because He loves us, and really does want the best for us.

Allowing Him to be the Vine, to nourish us, to comfort us, to give us wisdom in tough situations, to simply be God will allow us to become everything He has planned for us. 

It’s OK to ask the questions. It is OK to look for the answers.

But let’s allow God to be God.

It’s His job and He really is very good at it.