What sustains us?

Dear Friends, 

Happy New Year! I hope your Christmas was both meaningful and restful. Sue and I enjoyed a refreshing time visiting with family and friends, returning home excited and grateful for God’s presence in our lives.  

I think it was Eugene Peterson who said, reflecting on the narrative arc of the Bible, that “God is quite chatty.” I find this greatly encouraging, especially as we enter a new year. That the God of Creation ‘chats’ with us is both a kindness and a reflection of his love, one that has been reinforced for me lately as I read and meditate on scripture. As is my usual practice, I often write my jumbled thoughts in my journal to create some sort of order to my prayer conversations with God. 
 
For instance, I was recently reminded of something I shared last year on social media, as I was reading about and being moved by the crazy-brave, God-honouring leadership Elijah displayed through the tragic melodrama that divided the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. Two verses jumped out and gripped my heart. Months later, the two questions they raised for me have remained at the front of my mind. 

The first question: What food will sustain me for the journey God has called me to? Will it be the food God provides, or will I look to another source – one that I know will not sustain me in the long term?  
 
Behind this question is the part of Elijah’s story where, after spectacularly staring down the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, he bolts for the wilderness. The weight of leadership seems crushing, and Elijah wants to give up. (You can read all about this season in Elijah’s story in 1 Kings: Chapters 18 and 19) 

Elijah just wants to curl up and die, such is the depressive pit he’s fallen into. However, God doesn’t give up on him and miraculously provides him with food and water. Elijah refuses to eat, but God persists: “The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you’,” (1 Kings 19:7). 

In our own strength, God’s call on our lives can feel like too much. For me, there have been times when God’s call felt overwhelming. But again and again, he sustains me, even when I – like Elijah – try to refuse the grace he offers. 

The second question arose a few chapters later. In that chapter, Ahab asks Jehosophat, the king of Judah, to join him in going to war with the Aramites. Jehosophat agrees and pledges his army and resources to Ahab’s cause on this condition: “But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, ‘First seek the counsel of the Lord’,” (1 Kings 22:5). 
 
Ahab had both the motivation and a plan. For him, and even for Jehosophat, it made sense. But in his planning Ahab overlooked the only crucial step: seeking God’s counsel. 

So the second question I notice God asking here is this: Do I look first to the counsel of God? Amid the many decisions I make daily and the demands I juggle, do I pause before acting to seek God’s clarifying wisdom? 
 
What if these questions guided us in the new year: Where are we finding our nourishment? Are we seeking God first for counsel?  

To be honest, reading the Bible sometimes leaves me with more questions than answers. But in this case, the questions remind me again how God speaks timely words through Scripture. I am so thankful God is not silent. He is not deaf to my cries or blind to my needs. He cares, deeply and intimately enough to address me personally through his Word. 

When he speaks, will I listen?  

It’s a question to ask as we reflect on 2024 and prepare for the year ahead.  

What questions has God prompted in your heart this year? I’d love to hear from you. Contact me here. You can also engage with me on various social media channels (see below). 

My memorable books of 2024  

12 January 2025

I set myself the goal to read 30 books in 2024. I over-achieved and read 31 – a wide and varied mix of novels, biography, memoir, philosophy/theology and other non-fiction.

Here’s a list of the most memorable.

Jonathan Sacks’ Morality, a hopeful survey of modern individualism, how it evolved and how we can counter its destructive impacts.  

Stan Grant’s memoir, The Queen is Dead, a brutally honest reflection on modern Australia’s unjust relationship with its First Peoples, by perhaps Australia’s most important living prophet.  

Pulitzer Prize winning biography, King by Jonathan Eig, about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. which I couldn’t put down. And the best autobiography, Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri. I laughed and cried my way through this book that defies categorisation. Part fantasy, young adult lit, autobiography, always moving, it’s a story of unusual, supernatural courage.

Bad Actors by Mick Herron was the best novel I read. Many have discovered Herron’s ‘Slow Horses’ through the TV series. It’s great. The books are better – as usual.