Open hands

The concluding four words of Malachi 4: 2 is a personal challenge to my heart. ‘Healing In His Wings’. Healing can be administered in so many different ways, a ‘touch’ can heal a hurting heart or a tired mind.

A long and eventful journey from Portstewart to Belfast, Belfast to Dublin, Dublin to Cluj, then finally Cluj to Oradea, driving through a Snow Blizzard. Andrei (fourth year Theology Student) approached all obstacles with great care and precision. As we made our way to room 205, footsteps could be heard descending, there in the darkness, Monika appeared. ‘Sister Shirley, I did not know if you have arrived, I did not ring your bell but I wanted to welcome you back Home and I know you love Romanian apples…’ We embraced, I had missed my friend, her words and act of kindness ‘touched’ my heart. So often when you reach the point of feeling useless, that’s when God begins to work. Our desire and longings are known to Him and He can entrust the most important work asking only one thing in return – ‘to give our best’. God has a plan for each of our lives, for some the race is short, others are given longer until they ‘touch’ the Finish Line. Moses was eighty when he was called, Caleb was eighty-five. My friend Jaci (Glenarm) wrote me an email this morning sharing a beautiful theme from her Church last week-end. ‘Come, Love, Follow’. May we all be willing to Go, to Love and to Follow that we may be useful and fruitful in His vineyard.

Two beautiful metaphors: ‘Shelter’, ‘Solace’. Remember the work of Tell Romania these next four weeks that as we ‘GO’ in His name on His mission, in His time, hearts and minds will be opened. Pray that we will be given the opportunity to share a ‘Word in Season’ that perfect healing comes from Calvary, that His love can remove the mountains that overwhelm, that they may know indeed ‘The Son of God has risen, with ‘Healing In His Wings’.

Uncertainty is facing Sister Florika this incoming week; yet with the insecurity of losing her home, finding suitable, affordable accommodation and quickly, she still greets you with her amazing smile of welcome. Her smile hides a broken and hurting heart and yet she continues to lovingly care for her Grandson Cristi while his mother (Christina) works in Austria, separated from her little boy and still missing her beloved John. Cristi (4) has developed a swelling which is causing concern. Florika (his Grandmother) confirmed he will require four injections (150 Lei each = One hundred pounds in total) when at the end they will know if this is a tumor. Another mountain and so soon. Please pray the Lord will meet the needs of this humble and needy family. I will visit again this week assured in my heart that it isn’t the amount of trust I have, it is the object of my trust that matters. May they ‘hide beneath the shadow of your wings until the storm is past’. Read more

I choose this day to be? Hudson Taylor penned: ‘Has Christ become to us such a living, bright reality that no post of duty shall be irksome, that as His witnesses we can return to the quiet home side, to the distant service, with heart more glad, more than satisfied, even it may be stripped of earthly friends and treasures?’ And so I ask ‘ How can I give less than myself’?

The work is growing, as God brings across our path so much pain, poverty, need, difficulty after difficulty, wave after wave. These days I am concerned, anxious, yet I have never sensed His presence so real as just now. I know I am never out of His heart, that He feels my pain and shares my emotion. His word assures me that His presence will always be my companion and that wherever I am, whatever I do in this ministry, I must do with an undivided heart, driven by purpose and mission. I am aware of the cultural differences and sensitive to the stares of curiosity and suspicion. How many hours in my day are given to ‘serving others’? Yes, my service is voluntary but I must recognise I am ‘A Servant.’ Nothing should hinder my time given to an agonizing heart, a lost soul struggling, searching for reality. I can never give too much for the cause of Christ. Love in action, therefore my love must draw people to ‘The Glory of His Cross’. Read more

‘When you supply it, they gather it. You open your hand to feed them, and they are satisfied’ Psalm: 104. 28.

Held in the hollow of His hands, the very shadow of His hand is all we need for each day.

The final week, four weeks, where have they gone? What about the ‘whenever’, ‘wherever’, ‘whatever’? Have I shown the love of Christ even in the things He has allowed and faithfully shared that in the midst of what He has not allowed? The Lord will stay with us as long as we remain in Him. Our Lord knew the depth of pain. His tender touch was always available; ‘ask and it shall…’ To those who came with human infirmities, His hands were always outstretched saying ‘Come’. We read in Mark 6:34 ‘He had compassion on them’. This particular mission trip, I feel as if a ‘tornado’ has hit many lives; those who suffer in silence frightened of the quietness that surrounds. I have held ‘other people’s children’ and although not my own, I have felt the pain of a father, mother watching in ‘silence’. A word of reassurance is quietly spoken telling them that even in impossible situations when we trust Him, His grace sustains in the darkest hour. His outstretched hands are waiting to hold us close to His heart. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not certain, today? Am I listening to His voice?   Am I trusting in every situation? Today is another day of opportunity; I must feel, I must do, I must love. Even the unlovable? I must!

When I can’t sleep and my thoughts run around in my head, rest is far from my mind. The remains of the day weigh heavy on my heart, ‘Am I doing everything I can?’ The Psalmist must have felt as I when he penned ‘I think how much the Lord has helped me, and even in my heartache, His joy is to be found in the ‘shadow’ of His wings’. Soon it is morning, sunrise, heavy rains, one of the ‘whatever’s’, but how? The Lord will give me the words of comfort but I must listen and listen carefully, learn and follow. Read more