Don’t Panic!
It’s been frantic at the petrol pumps the last few days! It was reported there was a fuel shortage and so panic buying swept the nation.
Long queues of cars, vans, lorries and motorbikes on our streets, as garages sell out of fuel. I’ve even seen a video of a very angry person kicking somebody else’s car because they jumped the queue!
It reminded me of the great ‘toilet roll’ shortage in Spring 2020 as we were plunged into lockdown. It seems to me that the ‘press’ take a story and make it into something bigger, resulting in panic buying.
Whilst witnessing this, I read this in one of the New Testament letters in The Bible...
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
The author, Paul, told his readers not to worry but instead to be a people of prayer. Prayer centres our attention on God and helps to realign us into seeing things God’s way and not ours.
Paul encouraged them to begin praying with ‘thanksgiving’. I’ve said before about the power of gratitude, it works wonders in us, as we give thanks for the many things we have. Only after that should we bring our request before God.
Paul suggests that the payback for doing these things is ‘the peace of God’. That does not mean that the situation changes but how we perceive it does.
So, in these frenzied days let me encourage you to: Stop. Pray. Give thanks. Ask. Allow God to do His thing! Then see what happens...
God bless
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader