Making our way to Runcorn hills cliff face we encountered a huge number of starling flocking over towards the sunset. Myself and my son Matthew had just arrived and it seemed miraculous to us that we had arrived at that precise moment. I don’t know how many of them there were but there must have been at least a few thousand as they filled the sky.

Our lives seemed filled with things that are timed precisely, and we have the opportunity to take those paths or leave them. What really confuses me is that sometime we take those paths thinking that they are the correct ones only to find that they lead to what seemingly leads to a dead-end. Could God have many routes planned for us, all leading towards Him, and so we still have that choice which leads through an adventure. Perhaps the dead-ends are not actually dead-ends but moments for God to provide glory for himself through our lives miraculously turning around.

Genesis 37:23-24

²³ So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colours that was on him. ²⁴ Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

Joseph was cast into a pit and so he must have wondered whether this was a dead-end. But if we follow the story to its conclusion we see that this is not so and God turns his life around so spectacularly that Joseph ends up being the second to the pharaoh himself.

Just when an opportunity comes I delay, I sit and think it through and many times this delay is too long to actually act. Jesus delayed when he found out that Lazarus was ill and everyone thought Jesus had delayed too long. There was despair, mourning, and lamentations.

John 11:6

So, when He heard that he was sick,
He stayed two more days in the place where He was.

But Gods glory became evident through this delay. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead to proclaim the truth that He was the Messiah, the Christ and that He has power over life and death.

God’s glory can be seen through nature, but my belief is that you can glean more than just His glory, you can glean his very voice. Dwelling in stillness on nature who can hear God’s voice  – but you must delay in the moment to hear Him.

So what is this voice telling me, what does this delay tell me. Perhaps that through delay I have spent time with God so that I now can truly answer that question. Perhaps now it is time to go to Judea again to face the turmoil again. But Jesus also reassures his disciples that if you walk in the light you will never be in the darkness. You will never stumble, but you will walk straight to God.

John 11:9-10

⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

Everyone can see the light of the world through nature and through dwelling in that nature we can all come to a sense of stillness so that we can truly hear God’s voice.

Dear Lord,
Allow all your servants to hear your voice,
Allow your servants to see your glory clearly,
so that we can all go forward with hope.
Allow us all to be confident in hope,
Allow us all to be filled with your faith,
so that we are walking your path.
Surround us with your protection,
Surround us with your love,
so that we can do your miraculous work.

Amen