THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

I lift up my eyes to the mountains — where does my help come from? Psalm 121:1

I was thinking the other day, what or who do we put our faith in? It’s not easy for most of us to have sustained theological discussions with folk as often that in itself will not convince others of our faith.

What I have found is that explaining what God has done in my life is a more convincing way to demonstrate our faith because then it suddenly becomes real.

Theology can then follow! The verse above was a question posed by the Psalmist. Looking at the majestic mountains surrounding him, he knew his help did not come from them, but from the creator who put them into place.

A few weeks ago, I was out on my wee boat fishing just off Ganavan. It was a beautiful sunny day, sea calm, very peaceful. After an hour, I packed up as I had to head back under the Connel Bridge and knew the Falls would be flat at this time.

I hit the start button and the engine foundered. I needed to get back before the Falls began to pour back into the loch but the engine wouldn’t start. Fortunately, I had an auxiliary motor which purred into life, eventually, but only moved me at about two knots instead of the 20 knots I was expecting to get me home. I slowly approached the bridge and I could see the eddies beginning to surface on the water. ‘Lord,’ I said, ‘I need power to get through this.’

I hit the start button on the big engine which then roared into life and I was safely through in a few minutes. Like the Psalmist, knowing where your help comes from is the key to faith. We just have to ask.