The fog clears

Chatting with some friends over coffee yesterday morning, I mentioned that I have absolute vision and clarity about some aspects of my life that were unclear before. Let me be clear (if you’ll pardon the pun), life for me has its foggy days, that’s what makes this sense of clarity so amazing. I have a new clarity that God is good and that He is for me, not against me. I’ve become clear that for every situation that I find myself in, God is enough and He has equipped me for the situations I must face and what He has called me to do. I’ve become clear that, whilst my feelings are real and important, God’s word is more important and true. I have a new clarity that when God doesn’t seem to answer my prayers it’s because to answer them would not be good for me. You see, sometimes I ask God for a stone but He wants to give me bread, I ask for crumbs from the table but He wants to give me life in all its fullness. I’m learning that means letting Him answer them His way, not mine. It’s also become apparent that I’m a very slow learner J. So, how did this clarity come about? Well, it didn’t waft down from heaven one day as I wandered lonely as a cloud, though that would have been nice and does happen to me at times. It’s come about from a year of struggle, uncertainty and disappointment. Faced with the choice of allowing circum-stances to harden my heart or strengthen my faith, by God’s grace I chose and continue to choose the latter. I pray that God would keep me tender hearted towards Him and others. I pray that He would help me to walk in trust, forgiveness, mercy and hope. What has helped the most is making the ongoing choice to share this journey with others. As I continue to process Kairos moments with friends, I am seeing the kingdom of God come more fully in my life, and the lives of others. That’s where the clarity’s coming from. I am so profoundly thankful to God for the work He’s doing in me and for the deep, honest Christian friends that He has surrounded me with and who journey with me through both the foggy and the clear days. Blessings Di Hooley Parish Councillor, Prayer