Sheep!

 

I can’t believe it’s 2026 and 1986 seems not that far away, until I realise that was forty years ago! In that year there was the nuclear explosion at Chernobyl, the Mir space station was launched and the space shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after lift-off killing all seven crew members. On a lighter note, the first laptop computer came out, ‘Phantom of the Opera’ was premiered and Argentina won the football world cup.
 
I guess that at the end of one year and the start of another, we may well look back on memories we have, some joyful and some painful and maybe it is also a time to reflect, learn from memories we’ve had maybe many years ago.
 
I remember some years ago, after a period of not sleeping too well, thinking of ways to get to sleep and the usual thing came to mind, ‘try counting sheep’. Well, I thought that was a bit boring so I complicated it and tried to count the legs of the sheep jumping over a fence and then dividing by four to get the exact number of sheep. Needless to say that didn’t work too well!
 
Then I remembered I was a told a real truth about getting to sleep and it was this: “Don’t count sheep, talk to the Shepherd”!  You see, Father God is so interested in you and wants to hear from you, that talking to Him at 4am is no problem. But what a difference it can make. Yes, sometimes sleep may be slow coming, but then what an opportunity to chat to our Heavenly Father and have a two-way conversation, bringing our worries to Him with thanksgiving. In the Message translation, the Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4:6 & 7 “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayer, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the centre of your life”.
 
The lesson I learnt from all this was that I must, and need, to go to my Heavenly Father and talk with Him first. So start this new year and every day seeking God first before everything else.