SCRIP-BITS

Oh Friends, our God is a great and most wonderful Deity, but sometimes He exhibits a weird sense of humour, so please be careful for what you ask, because you’re liable to get it, though not necessarily the way you asked for or expected it. In yesterday’s Bit I asked for a rekindled fire in believers for 2012, meaning a spiritual rebirth. But what do you think happened? Before the Bit was forty-five minutes old, the Lord gave me real fire! Hn! Now picture this scene: It’s 8.30 am, at the early morning church service. There are just four of us at the time; the interim priest, the female lay reader, her husband and I. The lay reader’s lighting some advent candles on a stand down to the right of the altar, complaining that the wick on the lighter isn’t working properly, so I get up from the second row of front chairs to go over and take a look. Suddenly, the wreath below the candles accidentally catches on fire. I run into the corridor to get some water from the nearby fountain, only to realize when I get there that I don’t have a container to catch the water. So see me, like a fool, with a half handful of water turning to go back inside. Hn! Hn! I can laugh now, but then it wasn’t so funny, for when I turned around I saw the priest, a medium height, strong, wiry Kenyan, running out with the wooden stand on which the wreath was now blazing. The lay reader calls out for me to open the front doors. So off I run, oblivious of my wonky knees. Now there are two sets of double doors at the church’s main entrance. I get to the inside ones, open a half of that, then while holding that open, I reach forward to open a half of the outer set and stand there stretched out flat, trying to hold both doors open simultaneously. Somewhere in that operation I bounce my nose on a hard surface, and that begins to pain. Meanwhile Fr. Stephen has come up behind me with the wreath raging, trying to manoeuvre it between the narrow openings. But as he squeezes by me, I can feel the heat of the flames hot on my back. It’s surprising that neither his robes nor my sweater got ignited, given the small spaces and our close proximity to the flames. That was the Lord’s hand obviously! Anyway, Fr. Stephen gets the stand and everything outside safely, then the lay reader’s husband wisely comes out with a fire extinguisher and puts out the blaze, because it’s still going strong even lying on the ground at the front of the church. Later on we discover that the wreath was chained to the stand, so trying to take it off as Fr. Stephen apparently tried to do, was useless. And though the place was filled with smoke afterwards, we left the doors open and the service continued, showing that not even fire can stop God’s time. Glory Hallelujah! As Fr. Stephen said later on, we could either look at the situation as the proverbial glass being half empty; bewailing our circumstance, and sadly thinking that if the fire had spread to the carpeted floor, all hell would have broken loose. Or we could consider the glass as being half full, and give much thanks and glory to the Lord for looking after us and bringing us safely through what could have been a potentially very dangerous situation. We obviously chose to look at the glass as being half full. But Friends, believe me, if the heat from that comparatively small fire felt so terrible against my clothed back, I certainly don’t want to be around for the fire next time. (smile) I now have a pretty red welt down the left side of my nose to add to the scars on the right side. Anyway, today’s Monday, and not all of us are lucky to have it off. In this 24/7 society of ours, somebody’s got to work to keep it running smoothly, so let’s sing our Monday Morning Battle Hymn in loud, exuberant tones, truly feeling it in our hearts and souls. All together now: ‘Oh Lord God Almighty, Creator of the universe and all therein! We, your humble servants, praise your Holy Name and thank you that this Monday morning we have jobs to go to; jobs we don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose here on earth; keeping lives and families together. We also thank you Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm you’ve wrought in our weary souls over the last two days. It’s that rejuvenation of Spirit which allows us now to sally forth with confidence into the evil, ungodly world that surrounds us, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s wicked taunts, wiles and lies. But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing your powerful, protective spiritual armour. We surrender our all to you, and humbly ask that you let your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit, lead and guide all your servants as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, and thereby further your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of your Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN!’  And with that burst of adrenaline from the Holy Spirit coursing through our beings, let’s go out and join the battle with the workers of iniquity, praising God and seeing victory thorough our eyes of faith.’ Much LOVE!…to do as Jesus desires…is the believer’s raison d’être…