This is an email sent from Clive (Clive and Zoliswa from Rainbow).
You can read about the orphanage they are setting up in Africa on this page I found here Clive & Zoliswa in Africa
I thought I'd forward this on as I know they are finding it really tough with funding in the current credit crisis and so what Clive is saying meant that much more to me when I read it, so I thought I'd share it with you guys!
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hi everyone, the following is just something i, clive, felt God was saying to me, this is something that is challenging me and it seemed right to pass it on. sometimes in a storm we tend to live more by what seems reasonable than by faith. this is just a challenge to keep looking in the right direction.
A TIME TO CHANGE OUR THINKING?
Something has begun to happen in the world that is threatening some of the things we trust in. A storm has started that is affecting every nation on earth and no-one really knows how long it will last.
It struck me again recently when i read about the disciples in the storm with Jesus, that 4 of the disciples were fishermen. They were the experts , they knew what they were doing. Jesus was the one they trusted in, they had left everything to follow Him, but it was like they didn't need to look to him in this field. This was their field. They knew what they were doing. I can imagine them reassuring the other disciples ' hey its ok guys don't look so worried, we're just gonna adjust the sail - we can ride this one out.' But as the storm went on and the waves got bigger they too began to fear for their lives. Finally they turned to their sleeping friend in the back of the boat and woke Him. He immediately rebuked the storm and the wind and the waves died down. And the disciples said, ' Who is this who commands even the wind and the waves?'
First of all i can think of at least 4 or 5 times when Jesus surprised the fishermen, (James, John, Peter and Andrew) , with His intervention in their field of expertise. Twice instructing them to let down their nets for a big catch after they had caught nothing and twice in storms. (Also Jesus instructed Peter to go and look for a denarius in a fish's mouth!)
After this storm they asked of Jesus 'Who is this?' Jesus had been with them day and night for quite a while, He was their close friend and they knew He had power from God, but here in the storm they saw something they had not seen before. They began to see more of who Jesus was. They began to trust less in themselves and more in Him.
Was it good for them to go through the storm? It didn't feel like it at the time but it was very good. There is no greater treasure than a fuller revelation of Jesus. The word of God has power but we don't just digest these things about Him by reading them on a printed page. We discover the reality of Him by walking through real life with Him and experiencing Him for ourselves. We must ' taste and see that the Lord is good.' Maybe that is an encouragement the next time we go through a crisis. If we walk through it with Him we can find more of Him. As David said ' You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.'
The point i am making about the present financial crisis,is that we in the west have our own way of looking at money and we feel very sure of it and our approach to it. And that we in the church absorb much of that same thinking. Sometimes, especially in difficult times our approach to money can be more western than biblical. The things the world is trusting in are being shaken to the core and everyone who shares in its approach to money will feel the force of that shaking. It's not my purpose here to tell you what i believe the bible says, but to encourage everyone to go back to the bible and listen to what Jesus particularly says about money and our attitude to it for ourselves. LET'S LOOK FOR JESUS IN THE STORM.
