Tilehouse Street Baptist Church,
Hitchin Tilehouse Street Baptist Church,
Hitchin
OUTLOOK
Jesus told them another parable:
"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took
and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked
all through the dough"
Matthew 13:33
Dear Friends
As I sat down to write this letter for Outlook I found myself with what some would call “writer’s block”. Every topic I scrolled through in my head just didn’t seem to go anywhere. Nothing felt right. I couldn’t get beyond the first few sentences whatever direction I headed off in. And I knew Anne was waiting!
Usually I work well to a deadline. But not today. Today I was going round in circles and, to be honest, I was getting a bit stressed. Even needing to get something down on ‘paper’ by the end of the day wasn’t helping. Not for the first time I was beginning to regret not tackling this task earlier. After all I’d known, for the best part of two months, when another letter was needed. But that’s not how I work so there was nothing to be done except to ‘chain’ myself to the laptop until inspiration came. At least, that’s what I thought.
Until I couldn’t ignore the fact that I was hungry any longer. It was time to take a break. Yes, the letter still needed writing. No, I still didn’t have any inspiration. But now was the time to acknowledge that although Jesus had said that no-one lives by bread alone, he didn’t mean that bread (the New Testament equivalent of Hovis kind) wasn’t needed at all. And so off to the kitchen I went and rustled up … a salad!
And in that moment I knew what I needed to write about this time. That taking a break is important. That we need to eat nutritious food. We need to get enough sleep. God has created us body, mind and spirit and they all need nurture and care.
And I remembered the story of Elijah. The Old Testament prophet who, having experienced an incredible work of God’s power in defeating the prophets of Baal, was now fleeing for his life. He was exhausted. He was afraid. And he was alone.
Then he went on alone into the wilderness, travelling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.” Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again. Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. (1 Kings 19:4-8 NLT)
The answer to Elijah’s desperate state? Not more prayer. Not more faith. Nothing spiritual at all, in fact. But rest and food.
If it appears that the journey ahead is too much for us (in my case no inspiration) then sometimes maybe all we need to do is to stop and take care of some basics. Eat a good meal. Get some sleep. And then, like Elijah, we may well find ourselves refreshed for the journey, or like me, find that inspiration that previously was so elusive.
Of course, we do also need to remember that Jesus did say, “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” A case of “both-and”!
Every blessing,
Jane
As this year marks the 110th anniversary of the start of WWI, I have used a picture I took on the 100th anniversary for the front of Outlook. Many of you will remember the ceramic poppies which filled the moat at the Tower of London. There were 888,246 poppies, each one representing a British or colonial serviceman killed in the War.
