17th Feb

Is it really wrong to have doubts? It must be wrong to hide them away and hide behind untruth but how do we deal with them? We find one example in Matthew 9v24 ‘I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief’ which seems to suggest that we need to just get on with it and that belief can be something we choose rather than waiting for it to come along. The term step of faith comes to mind. My Bible is filled with promises and commands of God which test rational thinking every time I read them. For example Matthew 10v8 says ‘Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give’ which is not really a promise but rather a command. How to get past the doubts and embrace God’s plan for ‘normal Christian life’ is the challenge. Maybe we start by honouring the word of God in the basics of purity, honesty, kindness, gentleness etc. and grow in faith day by day in our journey with God. I guess he will only trust us with heavenly gifts to the degree that we are able to honour him and his word, but one thing I do know… we cannot put God in a box we simply have to trust him as he works for good in our lives.

Jane had a better night’s sleep but still is struggling a little with breathing and some coughing when moving around. This afternoon she had the beginnings of a migraine similar to one day in hospital. Painkillers, a lie down, and prayer dealt with it, but stepping outside of the stress of life at the moment really is an enormous challenge for both of us. Jane really can only rest for most of the time as almost any exertion causes breathlessness followed by coughing. Not good.

Does God heal today? In our home today? I’ve no idea whether nature just took its course and don’t care as God created nature anyway but we came downstairs this morning to find our cat hobbling on three legs. He couldn’t tell us what happened although he was indoors all night so we prayed for him and within a few hours he seemed pretty much back to normal. Praise God… Jane’s turn next?

Psalm 91v4 ‘He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you under his wings. His faithful promises are your armour and protection’ (NLT)