BLOG Post: The Four-Minute Read
Having been part of two quiz teams last week (and on the loosing side both times…sigh) I thought I would start this blog with a trivia question for you all.
Question – which pop group, with what song, reached number 2 in the UK Pop Charts in August 1997 and won Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards? You will need to read this blog to find out the answer at the end…
So why this song here and now? Well it leads nicely into my theme, (and giving you a huge clue to the song) ”Get back up and keep going”.
My text from the Message version is 2 Corinthians 4:9 is
”We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken.”
So, I for one, have experienced this physically, emotionally and spiritually over the past month or two – knocked down, literally, and knocked back in many ways, including within STURR, with our Charity Commission application, our banking, in some aspects of our projects abroad, and not least the saddening and frustrating inability to travel to Pakistan, in mission, for me.
I know a number of us have experienced the same in our personal lives, health and well-being, families, friends, work and mission.
What makes it worse, as Paul put it so well, is that…”we are perplexed because we do not know why such things happen”. Making it worse still, the enemy turns this in on us when we become self-effacing, negative and “right-Jobs”.
But guess what? God knows, and He knows why.
There are so many references to people and circumstances in The Word that teach us that faith and resilience win the day.
Success takes focus and hard work over time; overcoming challenges, obstacles, nay-sayers and failures. It comes, when and how the Lord knows, when He thinks we are ready, and then He delivers.
The key take-ways from this uplifting rallying cry from Paul are:-
- Suffering and Hardship: we will suffer being “hard-pressed on every side” and being “persecuted” and “struck down”. But this feeds our faith.
- Divine Protection: Notwithstanding “all the slings and arrows” we are assured of God’s presence. We are “not forsaken” and we will not be abandoned by God, even in the most trying circumstances, even when He seems absent.
- Ultimate Victory: We may may be physically, emotionally or spiritually “struck down,” but we are not “destroyed” or “crushed”. Jesus shows us spiritual resilience and through his precious body and blood sacrifice the ultimate victory that God provides.
- Strength in Weakness: God’s strength is evident in our weaknesses. Our limitations and struggles become opportunities for God’s power to be revealed and sustain us.
- Eternal Perspective: The verse encourages us to maintain an eternal perspective, focusing on the lasting rewards and glory that await, rather than being consumed by temporary hardships.
Take this encouragement and turn it into victory. STURR will become all that we pray it can become; that we have worked for, so far, and which we will continue to strive for. We are building a city on a hill, climbing uphill with materials, step by step, stone by stone.
I loved a passage from a reading today about Fred Astaire (not likening myself to him – but I wish) – memo issued after his first screen test said: “Can’t act…..slightly bald ….but can dance a little….” But he kept going…
And the image at the top? Well, I want to be immortalised as a Weeble, please. Don’t you?
By the way, I see they are making a comeback through Bluey and his friends (grandchildren reference). And have you seen what happens when a group of Weebles are all wobbling? Absolutely mesmerising!
Answer to the pop trivia question? Watch Here
God bless and protect you.
Kevin
Sturr Trustee
