Change for the Better

I was reminded this morning that even the best coffee tastes pretty grim… until you add hot water! They say just below boiling point is the best temperature, and when made properly I love it. Like so many things in life, just a little change makes all the difference. My holiday snap is a prime example where it would be so easy to talk of my time under the storm clouds last weekend. I got absolutely soaked on a couple of occasions, not a lot of fun on my summer holiday. Yet just 20 miles or so across the English Channel, France is enjoying a beautiful day. At least for an hour or so. Maybe I should have hopped on a ferry and gone chase the better weather? But no, the immediate excitement was right there on my seafront bench and about to unfold. Quite suddenly the ground began to shake, and folk walking past stopped to look up at a pair of wing waggling WW2 Spitfires flying directly overhead at little more than rooftop height. Something to do with a Royal Marine Band concert half a mile away. If only I had not been in MP3 land, listening to the likes of Bruce Springsteen at a rather too loud volume, I could have captured a great photo. But didn’t! Next time…

I really don’t want to even delay let alone miss God’s best for my life. I know he has a plan, I know it’s a good one and I know it’s designed specifically for me even at this emotionally stormy time. Yes no matter the challenge of personal loss, no matter my ill health, God is able. Able to work for good, able to change things for the better and if the Lord is for me, what can stand against me in my pursuit of his favour? But I do still sometimes look to the end of my life journey and it’s heavenly destination. Yet I am continually aware, that despite the promise of eternal paradise and a life of unimaginable perfection, we enjoy a privilege that no-one currently inhabiting heaven can any longer experience. God’s grace in the face of the severest earthly trial or the greatest adversity is sufficient… for us to live with the most wonderful peace, filled with God’s joy, and having a hope beyond compare to strengthen as we reach out in faith for the power to overcome. And so when trouble comes, I no longer complain as I once might have, and for sure have no excuse for feeling down; yes deep within resides a heart of thanksgiving giving voice to a song of praise. Put quite simply I love the Lord, he is my life and I trust him. Things are getting better.

Ephesians 1:11 ^‘Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.’ (NLT)