Month: September 2020

Rants

Shalom in Your Guts

As you, dear reader, are probably more than aware, it is 2020, and for many 2020 has meant great hardship. Bushfires on a level never before seen, protests against systemic racism that has been built into our culture, not to mention a global pandemic that no nation on Earth has not felt the effects of, and so so so much more.

I could do the whole, “God is going to use this time for something greater” speech, which is absolutely true, God is going to use this time for something greater, but that’s not what I want to focus on right now.

Something that was prayed over me the night before I moved to Harrogate just a few weeks ago, (it’s really only been a few weeks?!), was shalom in my guts. Now I know that sounds a bit odd. But let me quickly explain. Shalom is a hebrew word that is usually used as a greeting or a goodbye that means peace, (it can also mean harmony, wholeness or completeness). The prayer that was prayed over me, it wasn’t shalom in my head, so that I would know it mentally and psychologically. It wasn’t even shalom in my heart, which is an area that the Bible draws great attention to, (Jesus talks about the heart often, for example when he is challenged on what is the greatest commandment and he responds with, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”). It was shalom in my guts. Shalom in my very most inner core of my being, in my very soul. Shalom in my guts.

A resounding peace in everything I am.

Now, in my past, I have gone through seasons of dealing with and trying to manage anxiety and depression, so let’s just say that peace is not exactly my default setting. I’m sure many of you are similar to this, maybe even for similar reasons. Peace is very few people’s default it seems. In this year of chaos and uprooting of so many things all over the planet, it is even harder to find peace, to find shalom.

So I want to pray a prayer for you dear reader. I want to pray for shalom in your guts. I pray for a peace so strong that it surpasses all understanding. I pray for the peace of Daniel in the lions’ den to ring true in your gut. I pray for the innate belief and peace in their fate of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that even if you feel that you’re being thrown into a firey furnace that you believe that God will deliever you, and even if He does not, He is still good. I pray for the peace of Silas and Paul, in a prison, after being beaten and flogged, continued to pray and worship. The peace of John, who was a “Son of Thunder”, but became the disciple whom Jesus loved, who leant again the messiah’s chest.

But most of all, I pray for the peace Jesus, the peace of God the father, and the peace of the Spirit to work in and through you, to make a home in you, that you let our amazing and beautiful father in. Build our God an altar in your mind, in your heart, and in your gut. Let his shalom ooze out of you, may it fill and overflow out of you.

Let us, as brothers and sisters in Christ, as a family of God, be a culture of shalom. Let our broken world see the peace of God, and may they come running after it. Let us not reflect our world, despairing in chaos of this year. Let us be the people of peace that our God has called us to be.

May you have shalom in your guts, Global Family.

News

Three Weeks In

Well, here we are. After three weeks, it is about time for an update.

In a lot of ways, these last few weeks have gone both fast and slow. Each week has felt different from the last. I’ll try and take you on the journey I’ve been on.

First week; alright, I am going to be very honest. My first week, well, I was an anxious mess. I felt unbelieveably out of my depth for that whole week. Ethan Briggs, welcome to the adult world. This is the point where I really needed to lean back into God in all this chaos. And with him, I got through that terrifying first week. But, I have been welcomed with open arms into Kairos church. Any other church and I may have run home on my first week.

Second week; time to lean back into God. Time to trust him. For me, that looked like starting each day by reading a liturgy from Every Moment Holy and Philippians 4 each morning. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition , with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” The repetition, reading it each morning, it began to ring true internally. I began to believe it in my heart.

Third week; hit the ground running. Busy? Sure. Stressful? Sure. A brilliant week? Absolutely. God has got me. Time to actually do, (not that I wasn’t aleady, but I knew I had God with me, so I felt I could actually do things). This is my year to learn, to be out of my depth and comfort zone, to get things wrong and to really know what it is to serve God in this way.

There is still anxiety (when isn’t there?), such as finances, having enough for the year, trying to find part time work while a pandemic is going on, and just general adulting. But as much as there is still things that I am anxious about, I know that God is holding it. I know God has it. To quote my favourite hymn, Amazing Grace,

“‘Twas grace hath brought
Us safe thus far
And grace will lead us home.”

He has brought me safe thus far. So, onwards with this journey that God has got me on.

Until next time, Global Family.

News

Into the Unknown…

In slightly poetic terms, it is the eve of a great venture into the wilds of life. In more traditional terms, I’m moving to Harrogate tomorrow.

I have been completely overwhelmed by God’s provision and the generosity and support of so many people in the last few weeks. Through so much that has been going on, all the ‘adulting’ I have had to do, God has kept showing me that yes, He is in fact with me as I go, in the words of Elsa, “Into the unknown.”

There’s a scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade that is resonating with me currently, (because God can talk through movies too). There is a scene where Indiana has to quite literally step off a cliff in a “leap of faith,” and simply trust he won’t fall. This can kind of sum up how I’ve been feeling. I am really excited to see what God is doing in Harrogate and join in with where he leads me, but a lot of this is new to me, and that can be scary.

But, as I said, I know He is with me. There is so much in store for me this year, and I am excited to share it with you all.

Please be praying for me as I take this step into this next season. A verse that is helping me in this time is Philippians 4: 6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Please pray that this continues to ring true in my heart and mind.

God bless you all, global family.

“I’m going on an adventure.”