This coming week I am looking forward to a bit of study leave in which I shall work towards the completion of my PhD proposal. I look forward to it but I am also a bit bemused at my audacity: it isn’t as though I do not already have enough time-consuming projects on the go, nor do I have heaps of spare money floating around with which to fund this academic endeavour, nor even a supervisor willing to take me on. From a purely practical perspective, it is a very illogical use of my time and one which may even be judged as a bit futile.
However, whenever I pray about it, I am left with a sense of ‘rightness’ – for whatever reason, this (I am convinced) is something God wishes me to do, though it makes no earthly sense. But then again, we have a great tradition of faithful people doing all manner of things that make no sense from a human perspective. They too needed to trust that what they were doing would make sense to God, and that their lives and actions would be used for the good of God’s Kingdom.
In fact, being a disciple of Christ requires this kind of trust from all of us, ALL of the time, for we worship an unseen God, and have faith in God’s promises to us through scriptures written thousands of years ago in a time and place very unlike ours. And yet, all of us who have opened the Bible and read it seeking God have found God there, and know that the promises we trust in are true. Our lives themselves are the proof texts for God’s love and faithfulness, for every one of us has been changed into a new being. We are vessels of the presence of Christ – whether we are aware of it or not.
This week, may I challenge you to take a few extra minutes of time and read a portion of scripture you haven’t read in a while, with the intention of seeking God there? If you do, I would love to hear from you when I return: what did you read, and what did you discover?
Mother Amanda