Ah Ha! A revelation about Boris Johnson and Short Notices
Boris Johnson has a habit of giving short notice on the Covid Virus changes in law. But it occurs to me that it might be good training ground for followers of Jesus. Has that occurred to you? ….After all, aren’t we meant to be ready?
God is a God of short notice
As I was in conversation with a friend on the phone recently, chatting about the latest UK “turn-on-a-dime Covid-19” lockdown instruction (which was actually a permutation from a previous instruction given only hours before that), I suddenly had an insight into a connection between our walk with the LORD and our walk as citizens of the United Kingdom in 2020/2021.
Boris Johnson is a last minute decision-maker. Oh, it can be frustrating, especially hard for small businesses.
And yet before we too hastily write it off as simply annoying or disorganised or incompetent, let’s consider: maybe it’s good training and just what the LORD ordered… Remember Romans 13:1 tells us, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.” So, isn’t what we are being subjected to, directly or indirectly, commanded by God?
Boris v Jesus
Just as Boris asks us today to change plans at short notice, Jesus has called us to be ready; like the five wise virgins in Matthew 25, our lamps should be filled with oil. For Jesus will come “as a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2b) — expected but without warning. “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” (Matthew 24:36).
Being nimble
We need to be aware, I think, that in God’s sovereignty everything is an opportunity to grow. With the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson’s last minute decisions requiring us to make quick adjustments, we have the opportunity to learn how to respond immediately. Are we being trained for Jesus “last minute” arrival? Certainly we need to be ready for the bridegroom: surrendered, resting in His presence, willing to listen and follow, any time, any where.
Take the Call
So, let’s accept our Call today, to be subject to the governing authority and aware that our experience here on earth really is training ground for what is to come. And let’s be ready to live, move, have our being as God would have us: ready, willing and able to move at a moment’s notice, to follow His lead, His will, His direction for our lives, so that others may gain access to Jesus through the revelation we might instigate by our behaviour.
At the very least our cooperation with government will be a beacon to others. At best, it will give glory to our Father as He ushers in the next Age.