Yesterday I saw a picture posted by my friend Katya, who lives in Kharkiv and was thus an eye witness of Russia’s latest attack on the people of that city. Below is some footage she shot of that same attack – footage that, knowing the person who filmed it, I found particularly sobering to watch.
But it’s film, I believe, that others would benefit from not only watching, but listening to as well.
Because, as well as by the things I was seeing, I was struck by how the distinct sound of birdsong could be heard despite the terrifying background noise of missiles exploding and air raid sirens being sounded.
All of which got me thinking.
Whilst putting up with the relentless attacks on their homeland, many Ukrainians speak of the hurt they feel when they hear certain world leaders blaming them for the war, claiming as they do that they either started it, or are somehow in the wrong for trying to defend themselves. It feels to them like yet another unjust assault on their already beleaguered nation.
But when those making such utterances are supposedly those with the greatest power, who else do those they are addressing have to listen to?
Well today is a day which might provide a clue to the answer to that question. Because today is Pentecost Sunday, the day that Christians remember the outpouring of the Holy Spirit – the same Holy Spirit who, just as he brought order out of the chaotic waters he hovered above before the creation of the world, is able to bring order out of the chaos that we find ourselves experiencing today.
If that is, we would listen to the one he longs for us to hear – be we Ukrainians living in a war zone, or those who are simply struggling, perhaps less dramatically, with our own everyday difficulties.
There will of course be those who say that it is naive to hope in God but, to me at least, truly naivety would be to keep on hoping in men and women when, rather than knowing what best to do, those we elect seem to be nothing other than utterly out of control. Wouldn’t it be better to fix our eyes on Jesus and, as the one who announced him to be his son urges us, ‘listen to him’ instead.
That isn’t, of course, easy – especially when there are those who are so loud mouthed that, like those relentlessly exploding missiles, they seem to constantly demand our attention too.
But just as alongside the cacophony of war there is the reassuring sound of birdsong, so too, alongside the nonsense spouted by mankind, there is the infinite wisdom of the unchanging word of God which, as a result of the Holy Spirit working in us, we begin to see revealed to us in the Bible.
And it’s there that we read of the occasion when the LORD appeared to Elijah. First ‘a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.’ [1 Kings 19:11-12]
It was, therefore, through his ‘still small voice’ that God made himself known to Elijah. And so it is that he continues to make himself known to believers today – through his living word that, as those who have heard it will testify, is infinitely more powerful than the comparatively plaintive whines of those who, in this world, like to consider themselves important.
And so, on this Pentecost Sunday, may we all know the Holy Spirit helping us to understand God word as he has made it available to us in the holy scriptures; may we all experience the joy of knowing our sins have been forgiven as a result of Jesus’ substitutionary death for us on the cross; and may we may all look confidently forward to that day when, as well as experiencing our own bodily resurrection, all our tears will be wiped away and death will be no more.
And since these are the things that those who hope in God, are sure and certain of, let’s all hope in God.
No matter how chaotic life might be today.
Related posts:
To read ‘Speaking in Tongues’, click here
To read ‘An Advent Calendar – Twenty Five Reflections for Christmas’, click here
To read ‘What becomes of the broken hearted? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Palm Sunday’, click here
To read ‘Why do bad things happen to good people? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Good Friday’, click here
To read ‘Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things? Rejoicing, though temporarily sorrowful, on Easter Day’, click here.
To read ‘The Resurrection – is it just rhubarb?’, click here
To read ‘Faith and Doubt’, click here
To read ‘Ascension Day’, click here
To read “Hope comes from believing the promises of God”, click here
Some musings 