Who do you say I am?

My next, slightly less, ramblings on faith go like this. I got to come home in April and visit my church in Bristol. I wanted to share something about God in my life and so was once again ruminating on the subject. For those of you who missed it this is what I said (or meant to say). This time I was thinking about the names I might give God from the past few months.

Dartmoor, June 2010

1) God the Sustainer...
Seattle has felt strangely familiar and I have been aware of God preparing the way ahead of me, not least finding me a place to live, but it hasn't been easy. Once again I think on Psalm 121 "I lift my eyes to the hills where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord the maker of Heaven and Earth."

2) God the re-arranger
As I walked around Yosemite and saw the waterfalls we talked about how they were formed. Glaciers cut through the river valleys and cut the paths of the rivers off at a sheer cliff. Now instead of meandering to the bottom of the valley the rivers crash over the side in the beautiful waterfalls we saw. It feels a little like God has done this with my life. Which is both disconcerting and exciting. In fact the whole California trip was a bit of a of a demonstration of God as re-arranger. My plan for my 30th Birthday was to go see the Panda at Edinburgh zoo. I actually spent the day in Yosemite and then saw Pandas in San Diego. God sometimes has more exciting plans for our lives than we do.

Psalm 127 says "Unless the Lord builds the house the labourers labour in vain, unless the Lord watches over the city the watchmen stand guard in vain"

Blaise Castle, July 2009

3) God the faithful 

Psalm 130 says "Out of the depths I cry to you, oh Lord hear my cry. May your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, Oh Lord, kept a record of wrongs. Oh Lord who could stand? But with you there is redemption, therefore you are feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Oh Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with him is unending love, and with him is full redemption. The Lord himself will redeem Israel from all her sins."

I wait for the Lord and in his word I put my hope.