Ken Borland

Isaiah 12:2 – “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defence; he has become my salvation.”

It would be naive to think that storm clouds will not gather in life, darkening our lives. And it would be foolish to try to ignore them, in the futile hope that they will just disappear. It is far better to prepare in trust for the impending storm by standing firm in your living faith in the Almighty God.

That means God has to be at the centre of your life.I am always reminded of those old 45″ records that had the large hole in the middle … You had to carefully place the record over the spindle to ensure that it was centred … if the spindle was not in the middle of the hole then the record would spin unevenly and the sound that came out would be all wonky and distorted.

It’s the same with our lives. If God is not at the centre of our lives, then what we produce will be wonky, distorted and not very pleasant.

So if God is truly at the centre of your life then, even though the storm might not be dispersed, you can trust that God is still carrying out his holy design for your life!

“However threatening the circumstances may be, it is imperative that you do not allow anything to usurp God’s central role in your life.

With him as the centre you will maintain your balance.

“When your entire being is saturated by reverence and love for God, fear no longer rules your mind. Uncertainty is replaced by trust. Faith in God enables you to meet the future with joyful confidence. The ominous clouds might still be present, but you will be assured that your loving Father is working everything together for your good.” – A Shelter From The Storm, Solly Ozrovech

Much as I love technology, I have to admit I’m a bit behind the times and it oftens flummoxes and frustrates me no end. I’m relatively new to discovering the joys (and irritations) of a Blackberry and I enviously look at iPads like Neil Armstrong and Co must have looked at the moon during the training for their historic Apollo mission.

But even I know that you have to have the correct software running on any technical device in order for it to work properly. Windows 95 on my current laptop would be an absolute nightmare.

It’s the same with our lives. If we’re not in communion with our Creator, we’re not going to run properly. For those of a bygone technological age, it’s like those old 45″ singles you used to play on the gramaphone … the ones that had the big holes in the middle. If you didn’t centre that thing properly on the record player, the music would be horribly distorted.

Man, in disobedience, declares himself to be independent of God and causes a great separation. As Solly Ozrovech puts it so well in his book A Shelter From The Storm, “He thought that this would liberate him, but in reality he became the slave of influences stronger than himself. The egotistical I replaced God.”

But man’s declaration of independence from God has been a disaster. It’s clear that mankind cannot rule the world in their own wisdom and strength … just look at South Africa.

But here’s the Good News: “Even though humanity turned away from God, God did not turn away from his people. The purpose of Christ’s coming into this world as a man was to bridge the gaping chasm that separated man from God.”

2 Corinthians 5: 18-19 – “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

Through Christ, God has revealed to us what we can become through his strength: Liberated from sin

Enriched by his Spirit living in us

and in communion with Him

Through Christ, our relationship with God is fully restored!