Have you ever thought?

 

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

Imagine the unsettling sight of uncollected bins and rubbish strewn across the streets. This was the reality not long ago in Warrington, a place close to my home. The refuse workers and street cleaners were on strike, likely for valid reasons. However, this situation exposed many people to potential health hazards, underscoring the gravity of the issue. 

A few years back, I was headed to Ballymena in Northern Ireland for a week. My travel route was set to pass through Liverpool John Lennon Airport. A few days before my departure, I learned from the web that some baggage handlers were on strike. Upon reaching the airport, I was relieved to find that my flight was unaffected. However, the strike did cause significant inconvenience to many and incurred additional costs for the travelling public, as employees had to be brought in from Dublin and other places to fill in for the strikers. 

Apart from the recent action by junior doctors, I have not been affected by people striking for quite a long time. However, I remember well the miner's strikes, the fuel protests, and many other types of strikes in my sixty-two years. Strikes are a very effective, if not annoying and sometimes illegal, way of making a point. In the long run, someone suffers, and it costs money.

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

Have you ever thought about how the natural cycles and processes of the natural world are managed and maintained? I am thinking about things like the water cycle, wind and tides, the process of producing solar energy, etc. We try to harness these things, and human activity and behaviour can affect them. Still, we don't ultimately manage or control them. Have you ever stopped to think how our world is so well designed and has such efficient systems for life to exist on this planet? It's all by chance, you say; I'm not convinced!

Stop for a moment and imagine if the world stopped spinning on its axis! The consequences would be explosive. You may disagree with this view, but I believe it's not because of 'mother nature' but because of 'Father God'. The Bible teaches in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3 that God, through the Lord Jesus, upholds all things by His spoken and powerful word. 

If, as the old song says, God holds the 'whole world in His hands', it would be worth considering letting Him keep you safe as far as your eternal destiny is concerned. To those who trust Him, He says, 'I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand,' The Bible - John 10:28. 

Consider the safety and protection offered by God. He has a proven track record of safe handling, saving, and protecting those who trust Him. The truth is God cares for all and has created a world that is good for all when it is not mismanaged or damaged by human behaviour. Trusting in God is the safest option.

Many years ago, in the ancient city of Athens, a Christian preacher was invited to address a meeting of Greek Philosophers. His speech is recorded in the Bible. I have added a quote from the text of his presentation as it expresses timeless truth that is still valid for a 21st-century audience. 

Acts 17:22-31 Paul Addresses the Areopagus (ESV Bible)

'What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for "In him we live and move and have our being"; as even some of your own poets have said, "For we are indeed his offspring.". . . the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.'

 

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