We are in a season of political change. We saw the UK begin to change last week after the election of a new Government and Prime Minister. In the US too, there is an election later this year and in my home country of France, there is also a lot of political movement and change.

I am pleased that we live in a democracy and that we each have the ability (and responsibility) to vote, but now we need to consider how we should respond to the outcome of the decisions made. How can we ensure unity in the church and keep positive relationships when our opinions can be so different? The same applies to the decisions we’re confronted with on a daily basis.

Choose who you will serve

We must remember firstly who we serve. In Joshua 24:15, Joshua commanded the people to ‘Choose you this day who you will serve.’ He told the people that the choice was up to them; it was their decision, but he ended by saying ‘As for ME and MY house, we will serve the Lord.’ Although as believers we ultimately serve the Lord, He gives us the choice and allows us to decide who we are going to serve. I believe this is a very intentional verse. It encourages us to make our choice and then have the courage and commitment to stand by what we believe.

Agree to disagree

In life we are confronted by choices on a daily basis, and the choices that we make today will affect our tomorrow.

There will always be disagreements among friends and family over the choices we make. But I believe some of these disagreements could be avoided if we tried to listen more. Too often in discussion, we are set on persuading the other person to see things as we see them, and we do not stop to listen. If we don’t listen, we won’t hear others’ views. And who knows, perhaps the opposite side might have a good point to make? If we all agreed on everything, it would be a very boring world. It is fine to say ‘I don’t see it, I don’t understand it, but I respect how you feel.’ For me, my relationships with family and friends are more precious than my argument.

Who should have the final word?

We all like to have the final word, but the final Word comes from God.

The Bible is God’s divine instruction manual, and it tells us how to live our lives according to God’s will. As I have said before, if we bought a new phone or gadget, we would always read the instruction manual so that we knew how to operate this new gift in the best possible way. The same is true of our lives and God’s Word – it tells us all we need to know about how to live a life aligned with God’s plan.

Even if we make wrong choices in life and create a mess through those choices, our failures are not fatal – provided we are willing to acknowledge them. God will always be there to help us.

Whatever situation you find yourself in today, and however you are feeling – whether it is fear or excitement – it is important to remember that God has a plan: ‘A plan to prosper you, not to harm you, a plan to give you hope and a future’ (Jeremiah 29:11).

I believe that we each have a story to tell, and I think it is important that we are ready (at any time) to tell it, both in words and in the way we live our lives.

In Mark 5, the story is told of Jesus healing the daughter of Jairus. She had been very sick, and as the daughter of a religious leader, it is likely she would have been well-known in her community. But as Jesus arrived at her home, it was too late. She had already died.

All around and inside the house were mourners, people yelling and crying about the loss of this little girl. Jesus was confronted with the reality and finality of human death. He immediately told all the mourners to leave the house, and then he took the girl’s hand and restored her back to life. And then in a puzzling verse, Jesus told the family to ‘tell no one’. It was not just a suggestion, it was a command.

In other parts of Scripture, we are told about the power of testimony, so why would Jesus command the family to keep quiet? I read this story again recently, and I believe there is a simple answer. As Jairus was the leader of the synagogue, he and his family would have been well-known and respected in the community. When Jesus arrived at their home, the house was already full of mourners, so the locals already knew that she was dead. So when Jesus brought her back to life, there was no need to tell anyone. She was a living, breathing testimony. She was the story.

Saint Francis of Assisi once said: ‘Preach the Gospel, use words if necessary.’ Many have debated this saying, but personally, I believe it means that when we have been transformed by the power of God, our lives are a walking, living testimony. We can use words to tell our story (and it is important to do so), but the words need to be backed up with evidence of a life which is changed. We can all debate words and philosophies and theology, but no one can argue with a story and a life which has been transformed.

When Jesus healed a blind man in John 9:13-25, the Pharisees questioned the man to ask how this had happened. They wanted to debate theology with him, but he simply replied: ‘I was blind, but now I see.’ Who can argue with that?!

We all have a story to share. Some may have been healed and set free or restored. For others, it may be that they were aware of God’s presence in a difficult time, but I believe we should always be ready to demonstrate and tell our story.

Here are some practical ideas:

Tell the truth

This might seem obvious, but it is important to not tamper with or change the details of the story. It can be tempting to add (or take away) details, but in doing so, we can remove all the power. Tell your story and allow God to add power to your words.

Tell your story in chapters

Imagine your life story as a book – full of different chapters. You do not have to tell the full story, but you can share different chapters at appropriate times. Depending on who I am speaking to, I use different ‘chapters’ of my testimony. Sometimes I will share the story of how I, as a rebellious young man, came to England and met God powerfully. Or I might share about the time we had no money or petrol in the car, but we prayed and God provided in a miraculous way. Or, as I have shared here, I might tell the chapter when we lost our son Jamie. You do not have to tell the whole story. The individual chapters can be just as powerful.

Some stories don’t end well

In 1988, a few weeks before we lost our son Jamie, our friends’ daughter Sarah was taken very seriously ill with meningitis. I will tell her story in a future blog post, but God stepped in and healed Sarah in a miraculous way. A few weeks later, we lost our son, and it led to many questions about why God would heal one child and yet take another. Even though our family’s story did not end the way we wanted it to, it is still a story of God’s amazing provision and faithfulness. Even if your story did not conclude the way you wanted it to, you can still tell of how God sustained you in the difficult times.

The enemy will try to stop you.

I believe the enemy knows the power of testimony. The original Hebrew root of the word ‘testimony’ means to ‘do it again’.  In other words, when we share our testimony, we are literally encouraging others to believe that God CAN ‘do it again’. The enemy will try to quench the power of stories, and he will try to stop you from sharing yours, but when you tell your story, you are saying to the world ‘God is alive and He is at work in my life.’ There is huge power in that.

I believe that God wants to ‘do it again’. Do you have a story to share? Why don’t you start to tell it?

p.s UCB has recently produced Power of the story – a brand new book with 30 testimonies of lives that have been changed for good by the power of God’s Word. You can get a *free copy at www.ucb.co.uk/storybook (*P&P applies)

If you have a story to share, why not get in touch? www.ucb.co.uk/stories

It’s Fathers’ Day this weekend and I have been reflecting on the story of the Prodigal Son.

In Luke 15, it says the son, although living in a wealthy home, decided to break free from the family he had been raised with. He wanted his inheritance early so he could explore the world for himself.

He went to his father and asked for what was owed to him, not realising that by exploring the world on his own, he was removing himself from his foundation, from the source of everything that was good in his life.

Over time, the son ran out of money and found himself WANTING TO EAT pig food to survive. However, despite making a terrible mess of his life, he was still the son of a very wealthy man. He had walked away and made very bad choices, but his father still loved him.

The son decided to go home and ask if he could be a servant in his father’s home to repay his debt. However, God’s Word tells us that when the father saw his son, he ran to him and embraced him. You see, no matter what the son had done, he was still a son. No matter what he did, he would always be the son of a very influential man.

We can take many thoughts from this story, but I started to think about the nature of fatherhood and how we can rely on our Heavenly Father, no matter what we go through in life.

I am a father and a grandfather, and as a dad, I am part of the foundation of my family. It is my job to bear the burdens and responsibilities of my family as well as enjoy the many blessings. Some years ago, I wrote an acrostic of the word ‘Father’, which has helped to remind me of what a Father looks like and what our Heavenly Father longs to do for us.

Our Father is…

Faithful: ‘It is because of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.’ (Lamentations 3:23)

Although grown up with families of their own, my kids expect me to be faithful. I am committed to being faithful to them and our family, and in the same way, we can trust God to be faithful to us. Just like the story of the prodigal son, He is faithful to us, even when we are not faithful to Him.

Able: ‘Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us’. (Ephesians 3:20)

When my children were younger, I was aware that they hung on to every word I said. It is the same with our Heavenly Father; we can hang on to every word He says because He is able to do more than we can ever imagine or think.

Trustworthy: ‘No, I will not break my covenant; I will not take back a single word I said.’ (Psalms 89:34)

In the same way that my children expected me to be faithful, they knew also that I was trustworthy. Although I did not always get things right, they could always trust me. It is the same with God – we CAN trust Him.

Hope in Hopelessness: ‘Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles.’  (Isaiah 40:31)

Even after the death of our son, Jamie, we discovered that God gave us hope in the middle of a hopeless situation. We don’t always get the good outcome that we hope for, but even in a very broken world, there is still hope. This is the hope our Father gives us – He came to die for us to give us the gift of hope.

Everlasting: ‘…I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee.’ (Jeremiah 31:3)

God is also everlasting, and His presence is with us wherever we go and whatever we do. As an earthly father, I love my kids with every cell of my being, and over the years, I have worked hard to provide for them. As I have grown older, I have realised that the most precious gift I could give them was my presence – not any fancy gadget. God’s love for us is everlasting, and He wants us to be and live in His presence.

Reliable/Relevant: ‘…for He has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you.’ (Heb 13:5); ‘The LORD watches over you — the LORD is your shade at your right hand.’ (Psalms 121:5)

As a dad, when my children were younger, I would often get up in the night to check on them. If they were uncovered, I would pull the blankets up and make sure they were sleeping peacefully. The Word says that God watches over us, but (unlike a human father), He never slumbers or sleeps. He is reliable and relevant in every situation.

That is what a picture of our Heavenly Father looks like, and it is a great picture to cling to.

But what if you did not have a good father? I am blessed because my father was a wonderful dad and a Godly man, but for those who did not have that experience, this is where you can learn to love your heavenly Father.

He is the Father to the fatherless! Humans and earthly dads can let us down, but the Creator of the universe calls himself ‘Abba’ meaning ‘Daddy’. We can go to Him at any time; He is our sustainer and He can lift our heads high with hope. He knows when we feel alone or unloved, and even in death, He remains the resurrection and the life.

Even if your experience of fatherhood has been flawed, there is a great, heavenly Father who will always care for us, no matter what we go through.

He is the perfect example of Fatherhood, and He is available to us all.

In an earlier blog, I shared some thoughts about lessons I have been learning from the story of Moses in Exodus 15. 

Moses had led the people of Israel out of Egypt, but their journey wasn’t smooth and had many, many difficulties. The people had recently seen God do a great miracle by turning the bitter water of Marah into water they could drink, and now they were about to receive an even greater blessing. 

In Exodus 15 verse 27, it says: ‘Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.’ 

I love how these verses point to a God who is ‘more than enough.’ He had already supplied drinking water for them, but now He led them to an oasis which was an extra, unexpected blessing. It was waiting around the corner, just for them! 

As we find ourselves in this continuing, unprecedented, bitter storm which is affecting not just us but the whole world, this verse comes back to mind: ‘The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree.’

Did you know that palm trees are designed to withstand severe tropical storms? When the storm comes, they don’t break, but instead they bend with the wind and heavy rain. It looks as though they are breaking, but they are actually just adapting to the wind. When the storm passes, the area where the palm tree has almost been torn in two is actually stronger than it was before the storm.

During this prolonged difficult time that we are all going through, I feel God reminding us that we are like a palm tree in the storm of life. When this is over, we are going to fall right back into shape, but we will also be stronger and able to flourish more than ever before. 

As believers, let us never forget that the Prince of Peace lives within us. We can look at our bitter storm and easily forget that He who is in us is greater than the circumstances that we are in.   

As we are facing this raging bitter storm at the moment, I want to encourage you to trust in God’s Word. He promises to be with us always, and He is our Rock, even in the middle of the fiercest trials.

Above all, Jesus said: ‘And everything I’ve taught you is so that the peace which is in me will be in you and will give you great confidence as you rest in me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world!’ (John 16:33 TPT).

And then in Isaiah, we are reminded: ‘When you pass through the deep, stormy sea, you can count on me to be there with you. When you pass through raging rivers, You will not drown…’ (Isaiah 43:2 TPT).

Let us hang on to the truths and wisdom found in God’s Word – He will never fail us.

I have been thinking this week about how quickly things can change! All around us, the news reports seem to change every day, making it difficult to plan ahead. But ‘change’ is not a new thing, and while reading Exodus recently, I was reminded that the people of Israel knew all about living moment by moment. 

In Exodus 15, they had seen with their own eyes how God had released them from captivity in Egypt, but now the Egyptian army was closing in on them. They had been in captivity for 430 years. God had set them free, and they were celebrating this incredible victory. Yet just 3 days later, tired, drained and thirsty, they started complaining against Moses. They soon found water, but as they rushed toward it, they were disappointed to discover it was bitter and undrinkable.And so once again they began to complain. 

How quickly things had changed for them! They had gone from rejoicing to murmuring in just 3 days. Reading this again recently has caused me to ask: ‘Is there anything we can learn from this story?’

I believe there is so much we can learn, but it reminds me especially that in a time of crisis, it is incredibly important to stay close to God. 

In verse 25 of Exodus 15, it says that when the people of Israel got to the bitter waters of Marah, God tested them. As always, God’s plan didn’t end when He had delivered them from Egypt. He wanted the people to enter into a covenant relationship with Him and to learn to trust Him implicitly. Over the years, I have learned that God is not just a God of one-off miracles, but He is a relational God who wants us to experience His presence and blessings daily. 

This is demonstrated in Exodus 19:4-6 where God says ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians… and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation.’

Often, God’s way of conforming us to the image of His Son is a path that includes reshaping, moulding, training, and developing our character. And often all of those things happen through trials and crises. I am reminded again of James 1:2-4, where it says: ‘My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. And let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.’

Whatever time of testing you’re experiencing right now, you can be assured that it is under God’s sovereign control, just as it was for the Israelites at the water of Marah. Never forget that ‘all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose’ (Rom. 8:28).

And so as we stand at this moment in time, facing many changes, let’s not focus on the trial itself but instead draw close to God and allow Him to turn your crisis into a testimony.