Forever Protected

Hey!

Firstly, I apologise sincerely. I haven't posted anything in an extremely long time. I've been busy away on some fantastic trips and holidays... perhaps more posts on that later :)

So, when I finally got time to put pen to paper, it took ages to gather the inspiration to write a post, and I still hadn't thought of anything... when I went on holiday again - an adventure camping holiday in France, canoeing down the Ardèche river, climbing, kayaking, abseiling and more. The long and short of it is that I was, once again, very busy.

However, inspirations struck when I was sitting at a wobbly wooden table in a cold, windy marquee one evening in France. Outside, it was dark and pouring it down, a violent thunderstorm shaking the trees - quite a difference from the 40º dry day heat on the river.

But in this appalling weather, I was sitting with a pack of cards, precariously balanced in a pyramid formation, where I slowly built the tower taller, wider. It wasn't easy, what with the wind making the table tremble, and my shaky hands doing everything possible to salvage my tower. Whenever it fell, I sat back down, and started again.

It looked a bit like this, only bigger... and maybe not as neat :)
I would have taken my own photograph, only there were cheeky  11 year old boys running around, and I couldn't risk going to get the camera for fear of them ruining it in my absence.
This picture does not belong to me

It reminded my of these song lyrics...

"The way you move is like a full on rainstorm and I'm a house of cards."

This is from Taylor Swift's Sparks Fly, which is a song on her latest album Speak Now. Though, unless I'm very much mistaken, it was around before, but only a live version was around, the studio version came about on Speak Now. But whatever, I might be talking complete fiction here. I'll get my research guy to look it up for me. Oh, wait, I don't have a research guy. I could do it myself but I'm very pushed for time writing this post, I'm nowhere near done and here I am rambling about facts I don't know are true, and whether or not they are true. And researching it would have been quicker, or perhaps not mentioning at all would have been best. WHAT AM I ON ABOUT?

ANYWAY, I digress (just a little...) ;)

Do you ever feel like a house of cards in a rainstorm? I certainly do. Sometimes the world seems just a little too big, too strong, too powerful, and we're so tiny in comparison to the day's events. Sometimes a situation looks more like a vast rockface, with risk of avalanche at the single touch.

And you're shaking violently. The wind is beating and sending tremors through you. And the table beneath you might give out any moment.

But whenever the house of cards is shaking, is there not someone leaning over it, protecting it from the wind? If a card is to fall or slip out of place, is there not someone slotting it back in, in fact adding more cards as reinforcement, strengthening you?

Readers, I'm writing this because I want you to know that God is there when you feel like a house of cards in the rain. He's protecting you at every gust of wind, he's making you stronger every time you are damaged.

If you fall, you don't need to worry. Because he's going to pick you up, and start all over again. And you're going to be three times as strong.

"Is he not strong enough? Is he not pure enough to break me, pour me out and start again?"

-- Strong Enough, Stacie Orrico

You can start afresh. You can begin again, and he'll build you up, so beautifully, carefully.

Don't be afraid of climbing higher and higher. God is completely in control, and if you fall, he's always there to pick you up. It's easy to feel that the higher you climb, the further it is to fall. I disagree. Think of a house of cards, and their pyramid formation. For your house of  cards to get taller, the base has to get bigger, stronger. Harder to break. So you won't fall as far.

And sometimes, God takes us back to nothing, when we think we're doing so well. Why, you think? Why would my loving, beautiful God be so cruel to me? It makes us all doubt our faith at times, but it's OK. You DO have a loving God - he's not hurting you, but making you better, perfecting you to be the person that he planned you to be.

""For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.""

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Are you hurting? He has his plans. "Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways", Proverbs tells us. A new perspective, new friends, renewed thinking and relationships can all be gained through experiencing pain. A fresh start sometimes means breaking walls down first.

Another bit of wisdom from Proverbs that is very much adored by a friend and I is this:
"The Lord has determined our path, how then can anyone understand the direction his own life is taking?"

Proverbs 20:24 (GNB)

He's got our plan in his hands. You don't need to analyse why he might be doing it, it might not come clear for a very long time yet. Step back and trust God to carry out his plans.

You are protected.

This picture does not belong to me

• Strong Enough, Stacie Orrico - as quoted above - this is a beautiful song. It gives me hope, remembering I can start again, and my sins are forgiven, because of God.
• Lead Me To The Cross, The Rubyz - There's a few versions of this song, I think that The Rubyz do it very well.
• The Reason For God, Timothy Keller -This is a great book. You know those religious questions that bother us all - how can a kind God punish people? How can there only be one true religion? It answers it all in great detail. It can get a bit complicated, but it's an excellent book, I just bought it. I would recommend this for people with any religious belief - Keller is very respectful of any other religion, just as he promises to be in the Foreword. It's not really directed at Christians, just EVERYBODY, answering the questions that we all ponder.
• Sparks Fly, Taylor Swift - Again, I quoted this song above. Have a listen, I think it's a good song.