Hail to the King
Hi guys, Fred here. Hope you are going okay.
A couple of “firsts” happened (for me) here in Sydney this week. Yesterday we had a generous hail storm. This morning, for the first time, I attended the local pastoral workers gathering up near Kings Cross. These two events caused a strange little flash back for me.
Re this morning’s get together, the Anglican Rector for Darlinghurst, Hugh Cox, led a reflection time based on a story involving Paul and a colleague, in gaol in Phillipi. He pointed out that Paul and Silas (at midnight!) were praising God and singing, when an earthquake shook the area and all the prisoners chains fell out of the walls! Hugh went on to say that God often uses natural occurrences like earthquakes and hail storms as a way of achieving his purposes.
Well, it took me about 3 seconds and I was back in the counselling area of the church I was at in Canberra. This was about 16 years ago. We were just beginning a conversation with a young man (in his thirties!) who had experienced a terrible, traumatic episode of bullying when he was 15. He had just remembered that the day it happened there had been a hail storm. Well blow me down. As he opened up a hail storm hit our part of Canberra! It was the heaviest I’d ever experienced and the noise on the church roof was horrendous. It got heavier and noisier, and as it did his whole being began to shake as he relived the event that had so crippled him.
The hail went on and on. And all the while more and more of the buried memory got rattled loose. Eventually it was all out, like puss out of an angry wound. And as he got there, exhausted, the hail ceased. We prayed with him through his trauma, his forgiveness issues, his shattered dreams and his sense of hopelessness. He took his first emotionally healed steps in many years. He’s been walking since.
So there! Strange, weird and wonderful things happen around us. Often they come from left field and surprise us. Rarely are they expected and anticipated. But we have a Lord who uses them to get us going and heal us..
So all hail to the King!
Keep well my friends,
- Pastor Fred
Just a reminder, that you are free to use this material, send it on to anyone else. You can use the email button to send it to someone.
A couple of “firsts” happened (for me) here in Sydney this week. Yesterday we had a generous hail storm. This morning, for the first time, I attended the local pastoral workers gathering up near Kings Cross. These two events caused a strange little flash back for me.
Re this morning’s get together, the Anglican Rector for Darlinghurst, Hugh Cox, led a reflection time based on a story involving Paul and a colleague, in gaol in Phillipi. He pointed out that Paul and Silas (at midnight!) were praising God and singing, when an earthquake shook the area and all the prisoners chains fell out of the walls! Hugh went on to say that God often uses natural occurrences like earthquakes and hail storms as a way of achieving his purposes.
Well, it took me about 3 seconds and I was back in the counselling area of the church I was at in Canberra. This was about 16 years ago. We were just beginning a conversation with a young man (in his thirties!) who had experienced a terrible, traumatic episode of bullying when he was 15. He had just remembered that the day it happened there had been a hail storm. Well blow me down. As he opened up a hail storm hit our part of Canberra! It was the heaviest I’d ever experienced and the noise on the church roof was horrendous. It got heavier and noisier, and as it did his whole being began to shake as he relived the event that had so crippled him.
The hail went on and on. And all the while more and more of the buried memory got rattled loose. Eventually it was all out, like puss out of an angry wound. And as he got there, exhausted, the hail ceased. We prayed with him through his trauma, his forgiveness issues, his shattered dreams and his sense of hopelessness. He took his first emotionally healed steps in many years. He’s been walking since.
So there! Strange, weird and wonderful things happen around us. Often they come from left field and surprise us. Rarely are they expected and anticipated. But we have a Lord who uses them to get us going and heal us..
So all hail to the King!
Keep well my friends,
- Pastor Fred
Just a reminder, that you are free to use this material, send it on to anyone else. You can use the email button to send it to someone.
posted by Boomerexy at 1:03 PM
1 Comments:
Sometimes it does take a dramatic event to get me moving, too, Fred. I am sure your stories are helping lots of people to get moving... towards Christ. Keep it up
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