Anecdotes

"a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person."

Around a week ago, I got it into my head that there was a Bible passage called "God is light", and that I should read it, yet had no recollection where it appeared. I vowed to find it, but promptly forgot to search for it or think about it again.

On Thursday, in a slight state of frustration and impatience, I decided to reflect on previous blogs and stumbled upon "Agape", which highlighted the importance of God as love. I realised that patience is something that I should probably try and do, as love in action.

Last night, I looked at the significance of 1 John in demonstrating God's love. It's the book of the Bible which says, "God is love", chapter four, verse eight. It's actually quite theologically dense, containing some key points relating to Christianity (definitely worth a read), but also applicable to living out Christian faith, and challenging for me as I sit in the office each day, trying to do my bit to end poverty:

"How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?" 1 John 3:17

And so my perspective was realigned more into what the Bible says. Yet I definitely wasn't expecting on the previous page a Bible passage called "God is Light" !

"...God is light and in him there is no darkness at all." 1 John 1:5.

Which brings me to two main points:

1. If I'd focused more in my Theology degree, I might have actually known where the aforementioned passage was, and subsequently found the encouraging Bible bit sooner.

2. However, I find it amazing that perhaps a God who knows me better than I know me, can still direct me to encouraging Bible verses, through a series of events which appear totally unrelated, and consequently let me rely on him more.

It reminds me a little of this quote:

"When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don't, they don't."

                                                                                             Sir William Temple. 

This blog is unashamedly about "the everyday, the supernatural and the world beyond our islands", and it's nice when I can see these three elements interacting with one another. 

Being a Christian is tricky, and adjusting to life in London where there aren't prayer meetings everyday or CU meetings during the week means that I sometimes forget to focus on God. But yet, coincidences for me act as a reminder to be more focused on what I think God might be saying.

The Bible is full of anecdotes. Short stories about real people. Some of my favourites include characters like Melchizedek, who's barely mentioned in the Old Testament yet talked about for chapters in Hebrews. And Rhoda, a servant in Acts who forgets to let Peter in when he bangs on the door after escaping from prison. And Asa, one of the Kings in the Old Testament who listens to God unlike many of his predecessors.

Incidents are important and significant. This week, I've been reminded to listen more. 

I'm embarking on a Bible study on 1 John. On love. Because that's what this year's about, really.