What Now Lord?

The British newspapers and TV programmes are full of Brexit news, views and discussions. How is the UK going to move forward and find some kind of working unity with its neighbours whilst exiting the European Union? No doubt there’ll be millions of hours of negotiation and billions of words spoken before some form of working agreement has been achieved.

All the debate about how a harmonious way forward might, or might not, be found, made me think of a situation I observed recently when people from many different countries worked together in unity to solve a particular pressing problem. Let me explain.

There was a problem. The old overhead projector we were using on that day had finally stopped working and we needed a speedy solution. Without any discussion, a German went to the cupboard and found another similar but older machine, a Romanian( I think) unplugged and moved the failing machine, a Hungarian got down on the floor and crawled forward to plug the replacement machine into the socket, an expat working in Central Europe managed to adjust the lens and mirror so the image was in focus and a Brit standing by found a spare microphone stand to support the mirror in the right place (the screw to do this function was missing). The whole exercise took a matter of seconds to achieve success through the combined effort of those directly involved, and what was more amazing was that it was done almost entirely without any words being spoken.

So how did that happen so easily, quickly, in such unity, and all without long discussions or someone taking charge? Well maybe one of the reasons was that throughout the whole process the larger group gathered in the room were singing praises to God and the atmosphere was totally God-focussed, even though the problem undoubtedly needed a practical solution. Secondly, and probably more importantly, the people working on the solution to the problem were of the same heart and mind, and motivated by exactly the same priority – to be able to continue praising their God together. They worked practically, but were focussed spiritually all the time.

In these days of political wrangling, I doubt we can rely on the latter being true for those who will actually be negotiating the practical solutions for the UK and Europe. They almost certainly won’t have the same heart and priority to find a godly solution through which God’s name can be increasingly praised. But maybe we Christians can do our part, by ensuring that, as far as we are concerned, the former is true. We can generate an atmosphere of praise to our God. We can do our part to surround those chosen to negotiate with something of a God-focussed background. Whether they recognise it or not, the sacrifice of praise of believers will be a help in these challenging times. Our intercession in prayer, but also our sacrifice of praise to our Almighty God, is our part in this next season, and it may well be more vital to the final outcome than anyone could ever imagine.

Prayer: Our Father, we ask You to send Your Holy Spirit to give us all an urgency to pray for those who You want to raise up to lead the UK through this time of uncertainty, these few who will have to find the right practical solution for both the UK and Europe. Please help us to do our part in the process by keeping our focus on You and Your certainties, and turning our hearts to praise You as an intercessory voice for the nations. We pray this in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.