Monday Message

This week, one of my very dear friends went through something I can only describe as shattering. His precious, 13 day old son, Zethan, died in his mother's arms. Zethan only had a few short days with his parents, but in that time he touched the hearts of an untold number of people. Although most of us only knew Zethan for 13 days, his parents knew him for the 9 months previous; Praying for him and loving him even as he was forming in his mother's womb. More than that though, God knew him from time immemorial. Psalm 139:13-16 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body     and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!     Your workmanship is marvellous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,     as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born.     Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was lai...

Today's message is more of a personal testimony in a way. I was very recently made redundant from my job at very short notice. A couple of people commented on Facebook about it, many offering prayers and sympathy. Two comments stick out to me though. On Facebook someone told me that when a door shuts another opens. Verbally I was told by a friend the following: "When God shuts a door, he opens a window." Initially I thought it made sense in a crazy way, but the more I thought about it the more I realised that it made much more sense if you were Arthur Dent in the towers of the Megadodo Publishing Corporation as they were being attacked by Frogstar fighters. This did remind me of the cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which has the words "Don't Panic" printed on the front. Sounds like sound advice. Even though things for me have been uprooted somewhat and thrown into disarray, I am able to remain calm because I'm not in control. I...