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Old Meeting House Congregational Church (1643)

The Best Hidden Church in Norwich

You were born for such a time as this

Do you, like Frodo to the wizard Gandalf in J.R.R Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings series, lament your fate and ask, “Why was I born at a time like this?”

Grandalf’s reply you might remember was “You were born for a time like this.” If we follow scripture you might remember that Jeremiah was also born for such a time as this and this also applies to you and me today.

The days in which Jeremiah lived were every bit as evil as the days we are living in now. However, we must remember that evil days are not all bad. Paul reminds us in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 16, “Be careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Paul is trying to tell us that perilous days are times of unparalleled opportunity. T.S. Eliot said, “Redeem the time; redeem the dream.”

So how do most of us reply to this? Do we respond like Jeremiah by saying, “I don’t know a thing? What in the world can I do?

The answer is that God had already done everything that needs to be done: He planned our usefulness. In Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10, we read, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

“But,” you may ask, “how will I know what I should do? How will I find that particular purpose for which I’m intended?” Hear what God said to our friend Jeremiah: “Go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you” (Jeremiah chapter 1 verses 7-8).

God’s call is first a call to follow Him in obedience – to go each day where He wants you to go and say what He wants you to say. It is only as you look back over the path of obedience that you’ll be able to see what God has been doing with you all along. His plan is always better seen in retrospect than in prospect.

God has called us all to a Great Adventure. Let’s follow Him in obedience – do the very next thing He asks you to do – and see what happens! Anyone can find out what will happen,” Aslan said to the children as he shook his great mane “Get up at once and follow me. What will happen? There is only one way of finding out…” (C.S. Lewis in Prince Caspian).

John.

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