Ponder #3

Have you ever felt like you are on the outside looking in?

Let me set the scene…

It’s deep winter; frost on the ground, so cold outside that within seconds your nose and finger tips feel like ice.

You’re stood, all alone, in the freeze; looking through a glass door.

A warm light floods out into the street, but you don’t move and you don’t enter in. The door leads into a coffee shop; warm, vibrant, inviting. But you remain, still, on the outside looking in.

You can hear the chatter of those gathered inside; you look closely and notice you know them all, people from your community gathered together. Suddenly your hand is on the handle, you push but the door doesn’t budge, so you pull and there is still no movement, you cannot enter.

You can even see a spare seat, a place just for you, yet something is blocking your way.

The person stood outside and looking in; that person is me.

Why?

Fear!

Fear of being hurt…

I know that within the community of Christ each one of us belongs; we all have a place, a seat at the table.

Yet for some time I’ve felt too scared to fully let my guard down and enter into the community He’s planted me in.

Don’t get me wrong I want to; I want to walk into that coffee shop and sit in the seat that is waiting for me.

Fear is an issue in all our lives, in different ways and at different times.

And Jesus places the right people around you to deal with that fear when it rises. He’s done that for me; friends of old and new ones, standing with me as I battle this current wave of fear, which is so crippling.

I am making progress; honestly, it’s true. My hand is now on the handle of the door, I’m just waiting for my heart to be there too.

In your fear, whatever it may be, know you are not alone, Jesus is very much with you and He will be gathering around you a people who will walk this journey with you.

It may not be those you thought it would be; but it will be the right people to help you see beyond the fear, beyond the freeze, to see the possibilities of what Spring could be.

Sometimes a change of season means leaving a community behind

Suddenly you find yourself pained by loss

Having no one around

Community is needed

It’s a necessity in our lives

It fuels us

Holds us up

Encourages us in the tough times

So when it’s gone what do we do

Do we hang up our hats

Live life blue

Or do we open ourselves up

To new possibilities

A new and different community

Trusting God to put the bricks in place

That He will form a structure that will hold strong in the waves

Remember I am Penned in Love and so are you!