God’s Peace That Passes All Understanding

I simply love that phrase, I always have, every time it is said as a blessing at the end of a service, I smile to myself and feel especially loved by God at that precise moment. Over the past few days I realise God has blessed me with this peace, the type that passes all understanding, or, as I interpret it – a peace that conquers all doubts. The last two Thursday bible studies have been focusing on two Psalms – 107 and 118, and what it is to trust God. We talked in the first study about Psalm 118 and a scenario about the man who tightrope walks across a waterfall (as we are in Africa we said Victoria falls!) and can we believe him when he says he can walk across? ‘Maybe,’ we say, and then he proves it. He then asks whether we believe he can do it pushing a wheelbarrow, and he does it with ease. ‘OK’ he says, ‘do you believe I can push a person across in the wheelbarrow?’ ‘Well yes I think you can’. ‘OK, hop in!’................

What do you do?!

This week we talked about Psalm 107, when the redeemed are in trouble, cry out to God and he will rescue you. I couldn’t help but think about my situation a year and a half ago (was it really that long ago?!) when I was faced with the fact I might not progress to my second year of being a doctor. My clinical supervisor had decided for some reason or another I wasn’t good enough and shouldn’t progress to being an FY2, and that in not signing me off I would have to repeat my FY1 year with heavy supervision. Never mind the fact my other supervisors thought I was a very good junior doctor and had no problems and was competent. Anyway, as the Psalm says – ‘I was at my wits end, so I cried out to God.’ And this is what I did, and He was Good, He blessed me and the situation, and not only did I progress to my second year, My new supervisor after telling her said she had not heard from her predecessor and would make her own mind up about me and whether I was competent or not, thank you very much!! On hearing I was going to have to repeat the year I was at rock bottom, I had nowhere else to turn but to God, so I cried out and He listened. The rest of the study we talked about whether it was easier to trust God in the harder times or the easy times. What I thought was that it was easier in the harder times. I look back at my life and realise when things are easy, I ignore God, we only run to him when things get bad, don’t we? And then things go pear shaped, and then we remember Him, we run to our Dad’s arms for comfort and a solution to our problem. Since a year and a half ago though, I realise I have trusted God much more, although I could still be much better (I think we all can, can’t we?!) I have started to know He is in EVERYTHING, the good and the bad.

These two bible studies have come just when I need them most, and certainly Psalm 107 echoes God’s word to me a few weeks ago (Psalm 91). As we finished the study on Thursday, Noel (a pastor from SA staying for a few weeks) finished with the blessing: ‘God’s peace that passes all understanding,’ it was then I was overwhelmed with His peace. It was indescribable, I knew it was going to be OK, because God said so, end of story. No buts’, or what if’s – It’s OK full stop


I was struck today by how many people were in this world. I was sat at a minibus stop waiting for a bus to Zomba, and was watching all the people go about their business, there were thousands of people, all ages, and I was suddenly struck by the magnitude of people, and God loves each one, WOW! He knows the number of every hair on each of their heads – DOUBLE WOW! And I was reminded of a song written by the band Kutless (an American Christian band):

Sometimes my life it feels so trivial
Immersed in the greatness of space
Yet somehow you still find the time for me
It's then You show me Your love

And In Your eyes I can see
And in Your arms I will be
I am not just a man, vastly lost in this world
Lost in a Sea of Faces
Your body's the bread, Your blood is the wine
Because you traded Your life for mine

How many billions of people are there in the world and God still finds the time for me! AMAZING :-)

‘Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the Lord.’ Ps 107:43.

I hope you don’t mind my musings on life and God and that there is something there for each of you too. I always seem to find that God speaks through other peoples situations to me and I pray that you find this too, and my musings become a blessing to you. Having said that, I shall quickly tell you what's been happening here since last week:

1. Work – continues in clinics and theatre. Clinics are extremely stuffy and hot in this heat and I feel like falling asleep in them, in theatres however we are blessed with air con.

2. Hollie is returning to UK after 6 weeks as a student here, please pray for her safe travels and that she won’t miss us all too much!

3. Andy (a postgrad student) and Jackie (a pharmacist) have arrived here in the last week, please pray for their quick settling in and that their work here is a blessing to everyone.

4. I went curio shopping over the weekend and bought some really cool wooden souveniers and paintings, and postcards – I promise to try and post some this next week.

5. A new supply of marmite and hot chocolate arrived last Monday – thanks Vic, Tim, and Katie :-) Please pray that the other various parcels that I’m expecting arrive safely.

6. Please pray for my friends Seth, Tim, and Phil who had tyres from their 3 cars stolen on Friday night. (They all live in the same house and somehow the tyres were stolen off the cars whilst they were locked up in their house compound). Praise God that the house wasn’t broken into and their lives weren’t in danger – which could have easily happened, burgleries are commonplace here in Blantyre and there seems to be a spate of them recently.

TTFN

Harriet xxxxx