PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

God is my vital necessity

As I write this piece for the Newsletter, I am rejoicing in the news that we are heading out of lockdown! I can hear the cheers and whoops of joy from everybody! I am also looking forward to welcoming ALL students back on site on Wednesday November 3.

Whilst I am rejoicing on the one hand, I am also very aware that we have all been living in a time where life has not been what we expected.

In pondering these unexpected times, I have been drawn once again to the story of the Israelites’ journey from Egypt to the promised land, when the Israelites were learning to trust God and when life was not what they expected.

We know the story well. God has set them free from their misery and slavery in Egypt. But the part I have been drawn to is the next part of the story where the Israelites once again get what they weren’t expecting. When they were in Egypt, life wasn’t great, but this time life is worse! They leave Egypt and head south and find themselves in a desert, in a wilderness. The Israelites were hungry and had no water, the necessities of life. Although God provided for them, He also wanted them to learn that they needed Him, and they needed to learn to trust Him.

In thinking about the Israelites, and also these difficult lockdown times we have been experiencing, I have had to hold onto God, and He has been my vital necessity. However, it is too easy for us to rely on our own resources or those of our society. We have food, water, shelter, clean air, on-line shopping – do we need God at all? Like the Israelites we come to times in our lives when we realise we need God and we cry out to Him. And I have come to that place on many occasions in these unexpected times. Sometimes we stay in that hard place – in that desert. But it has been my experience that that we can know God is with us and that He is close to us, and that gives me hope.

Right now, God is what I need – what we need. He is our vital necessity. We have needed Him when our world has gotten so small and we have needed Him to show us a bigger perspective, to give us purpose and hope.

I have found it is in the ordinary moments in my day, when I put my feet firmly on the ground and as I have that cuppa, I say, God I’m going to trust you, please will you help me. That is so good, because God hears my cry and I hold onto Him in these unexpected times.

Life was better for the Israelites in the wilderness when they recognised their need for God.

Life is better for us, when we recognise our need for God and that He is our vital necessity in these unexpected times.

We need to cry out to God that we need His strength, His guidance and His wisdom as we seek to live in these unexpected times.

Every blessing on each of you as together we move into a “new phase” and a different way of living. And may you daily hold onto God as your vital necessity in all you do.

Every blessing,

Tim Farmilo

Acting Principal