Daily Devotions

Jarrod 26/5/25 Jarrod 26/5/25

Pens for God

Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings. Colossians 4:14

One of the most valued colleagues of the apostle Paul was Luke, the physician. We know very little about Dr Luke's medical career; where he studied, and where and when he practised his profession. He is remembered most of all as a writer, one of many medical men who have laid aside scalpel and stethoscope for pen or typewriter. Luke's contribution to the New Testament is substantial. There is a two volume work: Luke's Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.

The first tells us what Jesus began to do and teach: the second what the risen Lord continued to do through his apostles by the Holy Spirit. Both books are marked by careful research. The second includes excerpts from Dr Luke's diary: we can pick them out when the pronoun quietly changes from 'they' to 'we'. All of the powers of observation which a physician still needs -- and needed so much more in a world without special investigations -- are used by God to produce some of the most valued parts of the New Testament.

Today God still needs physicians who can use their pens for him. This can be done in all kinds of way: in private correspondence, in letters to magazines and newspapers, in magazine articles, in books, and even in contributing to a devotional booklet like this.

Lord, I give myself to you once again. You know your
plans for me today. Lead me step by step in the pathway
of your perfect will. May I, like St Luke, be willing
to be used as your instrument to do your will, for the
blessing of others.

Further reading: Lk 1:1-4. Acts 15:22-31.

JWMcM

Jarrod 25/5/25 Jarrod 25/5/25

Forgiveness

Jesus said 'Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more'. John 8:11 (AV)

A doctor friend of mine was working in a refugee camp on North Thailand. I visited him in his room. It was in the upstairs part of a simple wooden building. On his wall he had pinned maps, photographs -- even lists of things which he needed to do. But what caught my eye was a scrap of paper, pinned over his desk, on which he had written 'Remember you have been forgiven'.

This message is the heart of the good news which dawns on us every morning. We really do start the day with a clean slate -- not because we deserve to, but because God loves us and has wiped the slate clean for us. To go into the day knowing we are forgiven gives an inner strength and confidence and joy that only Christians knew. As we examine the next patient or look at the next chart we can feel the same sort of relief as though we had just passed an exam. To know that we are forgiven clears our minds of worries and nagging fears. It helps us to give our full attention to the next thing we should do -- and this is how we are meant to live.

But -- be careful -- don't luxuriate too much in the feeling of forgiveness. remember that many people you meet today won't have a clue what it means to be forgiven. All their lives will have been spent building up their self-image and suppressing the thoughts and feelings which they know are wrong or dirty or unworthy. They think that they need to be congratulated or encouraged, but certainly not to be forgiven. But today you may find a patient in despair. Through his illness or fear of death, or financial anxieties he may suddenly find that the bottom has dropped out of his life. He will probably be very inarticulate, but go and spend some time with him. It is just at the time when life seems to be falling apart that the message of the love and forgiveness of Christ is the only one which will help. 'This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners'.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the wonder of your forgiveness.
May someone I meet find that same forgiveness today.

The Lighting of the Lamps

You are the light of the world. Matthew 5:14

Most of life is routine, even in hospital or in medical practice. Rarely is life exciting; often it is dull. Sometimes, as the light of a day fades, the dusk settles heavily on us, and we know what T S Eliot (in his Preludes) means by 'the burnt-out ends of smoky days'. Weary of doing, we sink under the weight of oncoming night, imprisoned by the ordinary things. Eliot's poem concludes:

The showers beat
On broken blinds and chimney-pots,
And at the corner of the street
A lonely cab horse steams and stamps.
And then the lighting of the lamps.

The change is sudden and vivid: 'And then the lighting of the lamps'. The darkness is pushed back. The shadowy shapes take on meaning again. Brains clear, voices brighten, hearts lift. And we go on.

The greatest darkness is that which settles about the soul, weighing down hearts, befogging minds, insisting on the futility of life. But Jesus Christ says: 'I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life' (Jn 8:12).

Do you ever think how the evening settles down about your patients' hearts, with pain, loneliness, worry or fear? Is your coming the 'lighting of the lamps' to them? It can be, though it need not be self-consciously so. Certainly it should not be sanctimoniously so. The Saviour's statement, 'You are the light of the world', becomes true in fact as (and only as) his followers look to him with unclouded eyes and hear him say: 'I am the light of the world'.

He alone is the true light. It is the glory of the moon to burst into light, reflecting the sun's splendour, at the very moment of dusk when the sun is slipping from the sight of the world.

Lord Jesus, true light of the world, shine in our hearts,
we pray: so that your light may push back the darkness
from our souls and may be reflected into the hearts of
others to dispel their darkness.

Christian doctor - or Christian Doctor?

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood. 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)

A truth, rediscovered at the Reformation, is that every believer is a priest of God -- all have direct access to him through Christ. The logical sequence is that all are in full-time Christian service.

Medicine and Christianity are both full-time professions. Although doctors have 'off-duty' times, in an emergency they must be available and, if resuscitation or advice is needed on holiday, they will not withhold their services. This can happen in most unusual ways. The writer when crossing the Atlantic as a passenger on the Queen Elizabeth answered an emergency call and was second signatory to the death certificate of a rabbi who was to be buried at sea before the sunset which heralded the Jewish sabbath. Many will ask our advice simply because we are medical doctors, and after a number of years of 'living and thinking' medicine we often offer advice when it is not asked for.

How about Christianity? We refer to ministers or missionaries as being in 'full-time' Christian service: but we are all servants of God, no less full-time. Have you ever thought seriously about this? Much publicity was given to the actor James Fox who, after a number of years in so-called full-time Christian service, returned to the theatre to serve Christ in this field. Likewise we can serve him in our medical practice. We are called to offer our bodies as sacrifices holy and pleasing to God (Rom 12:1 NIV), and this includes our minds, our thoughts and indeed our work. We are no less in Christian service during a ward round than when worshipping in church.

St Paul (Rom 12:6-8) reminds us of our individual gifts. As the human body is made up of different parts with different functions, so likewise the body of Christ is made up of his servants in every branch of human activity. We should be Christian doctors with equal emphasis on both aspects of our calling.

Further reading: The whole of Romans 12 as a 'job description'.

JWD

Jarrod 22/5/25 Jarrod 22/5/25

An Impossible Situation

Peter was kept in prison; but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. Acts 12:5

Put yourself in Peter's position. Things appeared desperate. James his friend and fellow fisherman had been killed by Herod, and the Jews were pleased. Now Herod had got him. Four squads of soldiers guarded him, and at night he was chained to two of them. Why should he expect a better fate than James? Did he, even for a moment, regret his bold witness in those heady days after Pentecost? This must be the end.

The church was in an impossible situation too. They had lost James, now they were going to lose Peter. There seemed no end to it. Who would be the next? One by one their leaders were being taken away, how could the defenceless infant church survive? Their high hopes were being dashed. They must have felt very low.

But there was one significant thing: 'earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church'. I wonder what they prayed for. If it was for courage and peace of heart for Peter, their prayer was certainly answered -- he was so fast asleep on the night before his execution, in spite of his physical discomfort, that the angel had to strike him to wake him up, and even then he was so dazed that subsequent events seemed unreal. (Have you ever felt like that when called for an emergency at night?).

If their prayer was for Peter's release from prison, their faith did not stretch to that, especially as time had all but run out. The reader cannot help smiling at the humour of vv14-15; one can almost hear a church member rebuking Rhoda for interrupting their prayer for Peter with a joke in such bade taste. But God answered that prayer too, although they never expected it.

At times we find ourselves in an impossible position. How important do we find prayer -- ours and that of others? And do we really pray for Christian friends facing similar problems? If our prayer is only from habit, God graciously honours it and sometimes with big surprises.

Lord, thank you for the times when prayer seems easy and
natural, but help me to persevere when the heavens feel
like brass, I feel like lead, and I can see no way out -
even for you.

Tomorrow

Jesus said, 'Do not worry about tomorrow'. Matthew 6:34 (NIV)

How much of our time do we spend worrying over or imagining what might happen tomorrow? In my early teens one of our family treats was to go to the cinema on the last day of the school holidays. I saw some of the best films on those days, but they were all ruined! In the most exciting part of the film I would suddenly remember that tomorrow I would be at school -- and the enjoyment would vanish.

Jesus did not tell us that we shouldn't plan: he did tell us not to worry. Since he always practised what he preached, it is interesting to look at his own life. Each day was packed with activity -- travelling, teaching, preaching to crowds, talking to individuals, healing. he concentrated on doing what needed to be done at that particular moment: he depended upon his father for wisdom and strength for each task and did it to the best of his ability -- ie he did it perfectly.

What a contrast this is to the way we so often dissipate our mental and emotional energy! We bite our nails and knit our brows at things which may happen. If we have strong imaginations we may even imagine difficult or aggressive conversations with people we fear or dislike. We become nervous wrecks when we should be towers of strength.

The key to the problem is in the preceding verse, 'Seek first his kingdom'. We can do this throughout today -- we must, because Jesus has told us to. We begin by offering the day -- with every detail in it -- to the Lord. We then take his hand and give our best effort and full concentration to each thing to be done and every conversation held. So, at the end of today, having shared in the task of bringing his kingdom upon earth, we shall be ready, without fear, for tomorrow.

Lord, for tomorrow and its needs I do not pray;
But keep me, guide me, hold me, Lord,
Just for today.

J H Burke.

Lord Jesus, today belongs to you. Help me to use every
minute wisely and to work with you in bringing the kingdom
of God a step nearer. Thank you that tomorrow is in
your hands -- and that's where I gladly leave it.

Christ, the Centre of Life

Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17 (NIV)

It is essential that Christ should be the centre of every part of our life. Someone said: 'If you don't worship the Lord at home, if you don't worship the Lord at work, in the office, in the school, you will know very little of worship on Sunday morning'.

So often we lose sight of the purpose of Christ's redeeming work, that we may have eternal life, that we may know the Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. That means that Christ is the centre of every facet of our life. Christianity is God-centred, and not self-centred. We should call ourselves doctoring Christians, and not Christian doctors. Our primary function in this world is to be Christians; we happen to be doctors. Our purpose is then to glorify Christ now and forever. This helps to comfort us in times of despair, when we are overworked, when we feel depressed or used, and to bring us down to earth when we feel omniscient and omnipotent.

To achieve it, we must abide in him. 'I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing' (Jn 15:5). What is the purpose of the fruit? 'This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples' (v8).

Christ should be our worship whatever our professional eminence, in our church life, at home, at work and socially. He is all and in all that we are, so that people may see us and give glory to God in heaven. He is the aim of our life, the end of our life.

Yea thro' life, death, thro' sorrow and thro' sinning
He shall suffice me, for he hath sufficed:
Christ is the end, for Christ was the beginning,
Christ the beginning, for the end is Christ.

F W H Meyer, St.Paul.

The Testing of Faith

For a little while you may have to suffer various trails, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:6-7

Peter had stood before a fire and had denied his Lord with oaths and curses (Mk 14:66-72). Why had his Lord not warned him to avoid the High Priest's house that night? After all, if he is God, he must have know... But Christ had simply told Peter: 'You will deny me, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail' (Lk 22:31-32). In the upper room Christ had explained that he was telling his disciples about certain things, so that when they happened they would know that 'I AM' (Jn 13:19). Not just afterwards, when they had time to think things through, but in the very moment of distress they would know that he had known all along, he understood, he cared and he was in control (Lk 22:61).

Peter's attitude had been all wrong. His bravado, the 'big man' attitude (Mt 26:33,35; Lk 22:33), had indicated a complete lack of dependence on his Lord. Peter had not been teachable in the upper room. So he had to be allowed to make an utter mess of things. It was the only way he would learn!

Peter never forgot the lesson, and in his letter he writes of the trial of faith. Gold, he explains, had to be refined; and from a bucketful of ore only a small nugget of the metal survives the fire. But the nugget is infinitely more precious than all the dross. So with our faith -- the bravado, the self-esteem and the pride have to be destroyed by the fiery trial. But what emerges, in terms of a greater evaluation of the Lord and a closer dependence on him, is infinitely precious.

Our Father, which are in heaven, hallowed by they name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done... Lord, make me
teachable, but when I won't learn, when you have to expose
me to temptation, be with me and pray that my faith fail
not, and deliver me from evil... for thine is the power and
the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Only a Youth

Then I said, 'Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth'. Jeremiah 1:6

My first week in hospital after graduation found me interviewing new outpatients. The mature-looking woman who had just come in was obviously surprised. 'Are you the doctor?' was less a question than an exclamation, tinged (I felt) with dismay and even scorn. Who could blame her? I was only 22, and I looked much younger. Like Jeremiah, I was acutely conscious of my youth. But I listened, arranged for an interview with an appropriate specialist, and all was well. I felt not quite so young.

Then another woman sat facing me. Her lined face and hunted eyes told their own story. Oblivious of my youth, she poured out her misery -- illness and pain of body and mind in an atmosphere of domestic hell. The detail was intimate, frank and to me horrifying. Again I listened, referred her for specialist advice, and all was well. But this time I knew I was young with much to learn.

Jeremiah was at most in his early twenties when God called him to an awesome task -- to be a 'prophet to the nations'. He shrank back. 'I am only a youth,' he pleaded. Many translations say 'only a child'. He felt very, very young.

But the Lord would have none of it: 'Do not say, "I am only a youth": for to all to whom I send you you shall go, and whatever I command you you shall speak. Be not afraid of them for I am with you to deliver you'. 'Then', writes Jeremiah, 'the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth...' And he went out to a life of tough service.

Many a newly fledged doctor, young man or young woman, must feel like Jeremiah. I did, and I still remember it, though it was many years ago. Most of us are not called to Jeremiah's kind of life. But a medical life is one of great responsibility and privilege. It can be tough. If God calls us to it, he will equip us for it. He will undertake for youth or for age and for much else.

Lord, take me just as I am. Use me to meet the
needs of others as you show them to me. And touch
my mouth that I may know when and how to speak, and
when to keep silent and listen.

Guidance #6 - The Role of Christian Friends

'...That we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. Romans 1:12

Christian friendship is one of God's greatest gifts with it mutual encouragement, support, fellowship and advice. We need to consider the role of other Christians in the matter of guidance.

1. Example While benefiting from their example and experience, don't try to copy them. Don't assume that God's plan for your life is identical with theirs. Don't force yourself or be forced into their mould. Joseph, a nomadic shepherd boy, became president of Egypt to save God's people; whereas Moses, steeped in the language and culture of Egypt and influential in Pharaoh's court, was banished to Midian to serve the same purpose. Both men knew what God would do, but neither knew how he would do it. (Gn 37:7,9; Acts 7:25).

2. Advice The advice of Christian friends may be invaluable. 'The onlooker sees most of the game'. Paul's zeal would have precipitated him into the uproar of the Ephesian amphitheatre, courting unnecessary trouble, had not the disciples and influential friends dissuaded him (Acts 19:30-31). The town clerk dispersed the hostile mob, and Paul disappeared to continue his work elsewhere. Discretion prevailed. Jesus acted similarly when 'his hour had not yet come'. Older Christians in the profession can be of great help to us. They can assess our capabilities better than we, give us advice about likely specialty openings, and tell us how to set about fulfilling what we believe to be God's will.

But the wise counsellor always encourages us to look to the Lord for his leading. Ananias, knowing God's plan for Paul, only told him to turn to the Lord in repentance, faith, and commitment. It was the Lord's prerogative to show him what this would mean, 'for I will show him...' (Acts 9:15-16). The genius of Barnabas was to advise young Christians to 'cleave to the Lord' (Acts 11:23 AV), and for all his friendship, encouragement, teaching and training, Paul never dominated his life, and was content to let him obey his conscience when their opinions differed (Acts 15:36-41).

3. Ultimate Accountability The divide between profiting from the experience and advice of another, and allowing someone else to determine our future for us is a fine one. In Acts 21, we read of people who had been told by the Holy Spirit of the danger awaiting Paul in Jerusalem, confirming what he already knew. In addition, some sought to prevent him from going. Paul, however, was not moved. He knew where his ministry lay, and was confident of God's guidance in the matter. It is noteworthy that when the advisers failed to persuade him they stopped pressing him, saying, 'The will of the Lord be done'. Can God-given insight spill over into human persuasion? May it be better to risk an honest mistake, believing it to be God's will, than to give blind obedience to the dictates of others?

Lord, I thank you for your promise that your followers shall
not walk in darkness. Grant that I may be humble enough to
take advice, but discerning enough to distinguish between
your will and mere human opinion.

Further reading: Acts 15:36-41, 20:22-25, 21:3-15.

Jarrod 16/5/25 Jarrod 16/5/25

Guidance #5 - Not thy Will but Mine

God's anger was kindled because he went. Numbers 22:22

A comment was heard recently, 'It's extraordinary how often God seems to have changed his mind in guiding Mr & Mrs X!'. Does God change his mind? or is it we who try to change it for him? Balaam asked God a straight question, should he go with the messengers of Balak? He was given an equally straight answer, 'You shall not go with them'. Balaam's immediate reaction was decisive and right, 'The Lord has refused to let me go with you. I could not go beyond the command of the Lord my God to do less or more'.

But gradually his resistance was worn down. To comply with Balak's request would bring great financial gain. Already he was being sought after by 'high-ups' who could influence his future career, and even the kind promised to grant his every request. In a position like that, what an influence he could exert for good and for God! And after all perhaps he had a responsibility to his family! It might be worth asking God again. Did he really mean what he said? Did these new considerations make a difference? And God did apparently change his mind, 'Go with them' he said, and delightedly Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his ass and went with the eminent emissaries.

The result?

1. God's anger was kindled because he went.

2. God, who had been his master and guide, became his adversary, standing in his way.

3. God drove him into an impossible situation, no way forward and none to right or left. 'I have come to withstand you, because your way is perverse before me'.

4. And then, as commonly happens, Balaam began to 'take it out' on an innocent victim of his frustration.

5. Of course he was remorseful of what he had done, and was anxious to go back, but he could not retrace his steps.

6. He had to learn the hard way. It was costly and time-consuming, and he lost all the hoped-for advancement.

There are some clear commands in God's word. If he says, 'Don't do it'. we are foolish to expect him to contradict himself or make an exception of us. If he has made his will clear in a matter not explicitly dealt with in his word, we cannot expect further or different guidance. If we do, we may have to be content with God's second best, or find, like the Israelites, that 'he gave them their request but sent leanness into their soul' (Ps 106:15 AV).

C S Lewis comments that in the end there are only two kinds of people: 'There are those who say to God "Thy will be done", and those to whom God says "thy will be done".'

Guidance #4 - What if things go Wrong?

This man could have been set free if... Acts 26:32

There was no doubt about the rightness of his decision. Directed by the Spirit he had planned to visit Rome (Acts 19:21). His wish to go was certainly of God (Rom 15:22-24), and his call was later explicitly confirmed (Acts 23:11). Paul saw the future mapped out in front of him; he would finish his work in Macedonia and Achaia, deliver the gifts to the church in Jerusalem, then set out for Spain via Rome.

But things went badly wrong. Arrested in Jerusalem because of a total misunderstanding (Acts 21:28-29), he became the object of a smear campaign. The scandal grew. His enemies were quick to cash in on the situation and brought charges against him on accusations that were totally false and which he persistently and vehemently denied. But it was no good. The trip to Spain was 'off', and he found himself instead unjustly jailed for two years in Caesarea (Acts 24:27).

And then -- what irony -- justice at last -- but too late! Agrippa's judgment was in his favour, 'this man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment...He could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar' (Acts 26:31-32). Had he made a horrible mistake? could he have gone to Rome and Spain a free agent just as he had originally planned?

But Paul's plan would never have materialised. He would have been murdered in Jerusalem before he even started, God's plan was better. He actually used Paul's captors to save his life, to facilitate his work and to ensure the spread of the gospel to the west. Five times the Romans saved him from death (can you find them between Acts 21:31 and 27:44?). They gave him free and safe travel, so different from his missionary journeys. Not least they gave him guaranteed accommodation for four years under military protection, with his friends coming and going at will, with freedom to preach, teach and write unhindered (Acts 24:23; 28:16-24, 30-31).

Worried about injustices in job appointments? about unfairness and favouritism? about the malicious and false things people say? Afraid that God's plan for our lives is being spoilt? Our plans may not materialise, but God's always do.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose
He will not, He cannot desert to its foes.
That soul though all hell should endeavour to shake,
He'll never, no, never, no never forsake.

Richard Keen.

Further reading: Passages indicated in the text.

Jarrod 14/5/25 Jarrod 14/5/25

Guidance #3 - Conductive Deafness

He who has ears to hear let him hear. Matthew 11:15

There is a saying that there are none so deaf as those who won't hear. It is possible to shut our ears purposely (Zc 7:11). In fact problems of the will may be more significant than those of spiritual perception. Words of Jesus, taken completely out of context, yet enshrine a principle, 'If any man's will is to do his will, he shall know' (Jn 7:17). It is true in experience that not until we are truly willing can God make clear to us which of the options before us is right. This may involve a major spiritual battle. We may think we are unbiased when we are not.

God's guidance may come in the language of a look (Ps 32:8 AV) -- provided that we are watching for it (Ps 123:2); or by the whisper of the Spirit in the heart, as with Simeon and Philip (Lk 2:27; Acts 8:29). If we do not hear his whisper, he may speak, or even shout to make himself heard. If we are still unresponsive, he may need to 'goad us' to attract our attention, or even to stop us in our tracks (Acts 26:13-14). And all the time we are wondering what is happening to our lives!

The trouble sometimes is that we are seeking his will with minds already made up, and asking him to confirm our plans rather than reveal his own. We can deceive not only ourselves but other people into thinking that we only want God's will, thus effectively stifling any further discussion in the matter.

O give me Samuel's ear,
The open ear O Lord,
Alive and quick to hear
Each whisper of thy word.
Like him to answer at thy call
And to obey thee first of all.

James Drummond Burns.

Further reading: Acts 26:9-16. Je 42:1-6, 20:22. Heb 4:12-13.

Jarrod 13/5/25 Jarrod 13/5/25

Guidance #2 - Keep On Course

I being in the way, the Lord led me. Genesis 24:27 (AV)

God's guidance is a natural consequence of being 'on course'. Anything that disrupts our fellowship with him obscures our vision and blunts our perception. Given a right relationship with God, his guidance may be unobtrusive, almost outside our conscious awareness, many decisions being dictated by common sense, albeit the common sense of a renewed mind. God promises to guide the meek in judgment (Ps 25:9). We are not to be stupid and mulish, to be pushed and pulled, but to be those with understanding minds enlightened and instructed (Ps 32:9), attuned to the mind of Christ. Maybe we can see only one step ahead. Take it and the way will open as do automatic doors on our approach.

Guidance may be by restraint. In Acts 16:6-10 Paul and Silas were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. How (since it seemed so good a thing to do)? By a spoken word? a vision? or just a disquiet of heart, a lack of assurance, an unease, a 'something' that held them back? Then they saw a door marked 'Push'. They tried it. It did not yield (no harm in testing the doors). God has promised to tell us if we take a step in the wrong direction (Is 30:21). But for every door that closes there is one that opens. The invitation came to Macedonia. They weighted it up. They became satisfied ('assuredly gathering' AV, 'concluding' RSV) that this was God's call. Immediately they pushed forward. The way opened up. The wide door for effective work in Greece lay open, and it was a door that none could shut.

But sometimes God not only restrains us, he 'ejects' us from where we are. Paul longed to preach to the Jews (Rom 9:3). For this he was eminently fitted. But God had a different sphere for him, hence his rejection by the Jews; 'make haste and get quickly out...Depart, for I will send you far away...' (Acts 22:18-21). Well qualified for a particular appointment? Trained and prepared for it? in 'the running' -- even promised it and then by-passed? Don't bang your head against the brick wall of non-acceptance. Sometimes a misfit in one sphere is eminently suited for a successful and fruitful life in another. (But -- be certain that your rejection is not due to unpleasantness or incompetence!)

One step thou seest, then go forward boldly,
One step is far enough for faith to see.
Take that, and thy next duty shall be shown thee,
For dark and light are both alike to me.

Further reading: Acts 16:6-10. Acts 22:17-22. Acts 13:44-49.

Jarrod 12/5/25 Jarrod 12/5/25

Guidance #1 - Recognising God's Guidance

The Lord will guide you continually. Isaiah 58:11

God's promise of guidance is certain and repeated. He has recreated us and has a prepared plan for our lives (Eph 2:10). Jesus himself promised that his followers would not walk in darkness but have the light of life (Jn 8:12). Yet recognising God's will remains a practical problem, particularly perhaps for junior doctors who have to make frequent job decisions which could determine their whole future. We can be caught between the Scylla or rushing ahead with our own plans, assuming them right, and the Charybdis of being reduced to jittering indecision, lest we are making a mistake.

The following stem from long experience:

1. God is more anxious than we that we should know his will, trying neither to delude us not to obscure his plans. But his promises are not magic formulae triggered with a magic wand. We are not always ready for the answer for which we ask. God's promises are often conditional on prerequisites in the recipient. 'In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths' (Pr 3:6 AV). 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God...and all these things shall be added' (Mt 6:33); 'If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask whatever you will and it shall be done for you' (Jn 15:7).

2. God sometimes withholds guidance, having some better thing for us, 'therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you' (Is 30:18). His delays are for our greater blessing.

3. Guidance comes in different ways to different people and in different ways to the same person. He is a living God of resource and initiative, seldom working in the same way twice. We sometimes pray for guidance and fail to recognise it when it comes.

4. We may not be acutely aware of God's guidance at the time, but with hindsight can see how unerring it has been. A multiplicity of 'coincidences' of circumstance and timing assure our hearts of his good hand upon us. In his good time we see the picture emerging from the jig-saw pieces.

Child of my love, fear not the unknown morrow,
Fear not the new demand life makes on thee.
Thy ignorance shall be no cause for sorrow
Since what thou knowest not is known to me.

Beyond the Reasonable Call of Duty

Whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be the servant of all. Mark 10:44 (AV)

This passage is worth reading in its full context, for it is preceded by the episode in which two disciples asked for the chief places in the Kingdom, and Jesus countered them by saying that true greatness went with service and ministry. It is followed by the episode of blind Bartimaeus, sitting by the highway begging.

Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus as he passed by, only to be hushed up (by the healthy, one supposes!). He was getting in their way, a nuisance, preventing them from doing what to them was more important. But seeing his fleeting chance of help Bartimaeus refused to be silenced, and Jesus was not one to stand on his dignity -- he had come to serve, not to be served. Here was one needing service. Jesus always held himself available for people like Bartimaeus.

One of the problems of being a doctor is that so many people seem to expect us to be available at all times. They may not necessarily be patients -- they may be relatives, or nurses needing some question answered. Often the request for our time comes when we are tired, or are just leaving work for some well deserved relaxation. Often the request seems unjustified and trivial compared with our need for some privacy and leisure. Yet when and if we answer the request, we often find that it is more urgent than we had anticipated, or that it reveals some unspoken anguish or misapprehension at which we had not guessed. This is not always so -- sometimes the request really is trivial. But if we are following in our Master's footsteps, we dare not stand on our dignity and behave as if we were 'the great ones' not to be troubled by trivia. 'For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many' (v45) -- the key to our reading.

Lord help me not to be impatient with those who make
what seem to be unnecessary demands on my time.
Give me the grace to be courteous, and ready to give
of myself to those whose requests appear trivial
but whose needs may be greater than I realise.

My Shepherd #5 cont'd

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Psalm 23:3

It requires practise to keep looking to him expectantly, despite delays or dashed hopes. Each experience of his leading will add to the encouragement to trust him in the next crisis. He has a way of suddenly making dead ends open up or finding ways around apparently impenetrable barriers. This comes as an affirmation of his presence and assurance of his leading. So often, too, he speaks to us clearly through his word if we have established the habit of reading it day by day. Words of encouragement or direction will be read which the attentive heart will recognise to be personally directed by his Spirit. At other times, an apparently chance encounter, an unexpected invitation, or a bewildering closure of a planned route can be his way of showing us the next step. We can rely on him to be faithful, and the reason for his faithfulness is his love. For him to behave otherwise would be inconsistent and contrary to his good name. When he leads and I follow, this brings praise and glory to him. It is indeed for his name's sake.

These thoughts were written on a train journey which had been fraught with practical problems from the start. At times, it seemed that I could not hope to reach my destination in time, yet on arrival was expected to entertain others to a special celebration lunch. Timing was vital! To crown all, I was surrounded by hundreds of milling football fans. It took a deliberate act of will and of trust not to fret and fume, but to rely on the Lord's loving involvement and concern. It was a little time before I realised that the fans, too, were heading for my home town, that they, too, had a time limit (kick-off time exactly matching my own deadline) and that every effort was being made to get them there in time and therefore to get me there in time. Later, over lunch, the story made a conversation piece, and someone commented that even before I had learned that my original train was cancelled, a great master plan had already swung into action to come to my rescue and ensure that obligations were fulfilled. The remark was made lightly, but my spirit gave a glad assent -- the Shepherd had done it again! So let not your heart be troubled. If he cares about successful lunch parties, he can surely be relied on to clarify career plans as well. He really does lead.

Ever be thou our guide,
Our Shepherd and our pride,
Our staff and song:
Jesus, thou Christ of God,
Be thy perennial word
Lead us where thou hast trod,
Make our faith strong.

Clement of Alexandria (Translated from the Greek by H M Dexter).

My Shepherd #5

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Psalm 23:3

The retrospectoscope is a wonderful instrument for appreciating the fact of the Lord's leading. Those at the start of their careers can be encouraged by the life stories of others -- it is true that he leads. Sheep have to learn to know and respond to their shepherd's voice, and the ways in which the Good Shepherd leads are also learnt by experience and will have individual variations. We can be sure that we are not hearing his voice if we set foot on paths of unrighteousness or even of self-righteousness. The paths of his righteousness may at first sound narrow and forbidding to the uninitiated, but assurance of the Shepherd's constant care for his flock must surely assure us right at the start that he has our interests at heart. He leads not merely to satisfy himself, but to bring us into satisfying pastures, not personal, individual planning. Other paths may look more beguiling, and the right track may well require a committed will and self control. We may stumble and stray, but only as we find the paths where he leads shall we continue to hear the calling of his voice, to see the print of his foot and to be assured that we are not setting out into the unknown alone.

Doctors in training change jobs more than most other workers. Do we pray about which of the many doors we should try? When each house-job has scores, if not hundreds, of applicants, can we trust him to lead us to the post of his choice? The experience we glean, the colleagues we have and the contacts we make will all become woven into the pattern of our lives and can have important implications for the future. He alone sees the end from the beginning and is thinking today of our tomorrow. How vital that we ask him to lead the way and then follow. It is very likely for each of us that there will be times of great uncertainty and even of unemployment. Closed doors may be one way by which our paths are being directed. These setbacks need not mean that we are off his path: each of us needs to learn the value of developing patience in waiting upon God.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine's blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

George Matheson

Further reading: Jn 8:12. Ex 13:21-22. Nu 9:15-23.

Jarrod 8/5/25 Jarrod 8/5/25

Months of Emptiness

I was allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me. Job 7:3

There is not space to relate all the complex circumstances that precipitated it -- and they will be different for you in any case. The fact remains that in my final two student years I became increasingly more depressed and unable to cope with life. It was not just a passing phase either; people said it would soon lift but it didn't. And as month followed upon month there seemed no end to the sleeplessness, the aimlessness and the emptiness. The whole of life was breaking up for me.

And where was God in all this? I had been a Christian for some eight years and had always known such joy and fulfilment in life up to this point. Indeed, my Christian commitment was a key factor in my choosing medicine as a career, and now it seemed that my very future in it was in severe jeopardy.

It was during the second year of this depression that the book of Job became so meaningful to me. It was not that I found there any answers to my questions at the time, but I found such help in the fact that here was someone who was feeling just the same agony, someone with whom I could identify. The knowledge that you are not the only one brings untold release and comfort. G K Chesterton puts this so well in 'The Man who was Thursday': 'There are no words to express the abyss between isolation and having an ally. It may be conceded to the mathematicians that four is twice two, but two is not twice one; two is two thousand times one'. And it was this issue of not being alone that eventually proved to be one of the key answers to the question 'Why did you let this happen, Lord?'

Eventually I did get better, and obtained a tremendously satisfying house-job in the oncology unit at the hospital where I trained. During this job I saw that God had over the months of my depression, been equipping me to be better able to help others cope with the psychological trauma and suicidal feelings accompanying severe illness.

Paul tells us in his opening paragraphs of 2 Corinthians that God 'comforts us in all our afflictions, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction'. What a privilege then for those who are working each day with the sick and injured. If we look to him, the Lord will cause any experience -- no matter how devastating at the time -- to be used for ultimate good in our lives and for the help and enrichment of our patients too.

Lord, thank you that you never cause us needless pain,
that it is true that all things work together for good
for those who love you. Help us to be patient under the
trials that we face, knowing that you do have a purpose
in them because your love is constant and everlasting.

Don't be Dumb

Do not be afraid of anyone. But have reverence for Christ in your hearts, and honour him as Lord. Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you, but do it with gentleness and respect. 1 Peter 3:14-16 (GNB)

Many have had the embarrassment of suffering at the hands of a 'hot-gospeller' -- the type who is not simply ready to speak if necessary, but ready with inappropriate zeal to pounce whenever there is a chance to intrude with a pat verse or trite challenge. However, such belong to a disappearing species.

We have, rather, become decorous and dumb. Christians are a minority in medicine. Christianity has unpopular things to say: the Bible teaches that all are lost apart from Christ, and the 'all' includes our colleagues and patients. The Bible emphasises sin as a reality, which explains not only our lostness but much of our suffering. It points to our hope of salvation which is Jesus Christ. These truths, though some of them may be unpalatable, should always be in our minds. Otherwise we cannot 'always be ready'.

The readiness required is not that of being quick to blurt out, but to answer, and an answer is a reply to a question asked -- 'what is the secret?'...'what makes him tick?'. We should be the sort of people who prompt this type of bewildered query. Martyn Lloyd-Jones points out that a Christian should be an enigma to the unbeliever (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount). When we do reply to the question, we are to do so with 'gentleness and respect'.

Are we ever asked? and anyway, what is the reason for the hope that is in us? Have we really thought? Find out some answers from the suggested further reading.

Go forth and tell! Men still in darkness lie;
In wealth or want, in sin they live and die.
Give us, O Lord, concern of heart and mind,
A love like thine that cares for all mankind.
Go forth and tell! The doors are open wide;
Share God's good gifts with man so long denied.
Live out your life as Christ, your Lord shall choose,
Your ransomed powers for his sole glory use.

J E Seddon

Further reading: 1 Pet 1:3-9. Rom 8:28-30. Col 1:27.

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