Steadfast Love… and Hope

Sometimes it’s good to take time to reflect on things. The end of an academic year and the beginning of summer is a good time, especially in a year like the one we’ve had. What is it that God is saying to us, to me, as we find ourselves in yet another time of transition? Should we stay at home, or go out? Should we wear a mask, or not? Should we book that holiday, or stay at home? Should we sing? Should we dance? Should we celebrate? Or wait… to see what might lie around the corner? It’s not surprising that we feel this way. Nothing will ever be quite the same again.

It's at times like these that we need to take the long view. That’s what Judah did when things were going very wrong for them. Their enemies were defeating them. Their temple had been destroyed and they had been dragged into exile. ‘How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?’, they asked themselves. But they learned to sing a new song – many a new song. The book of Lamentations is one such song. In the midst of a confusing time, they held hope: Lamentations 3: 17-24

17 my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; 

18 so I say, ‘Gone is my glory, and all that I had hoped for from the Lord.’

19 The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! 

20 My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. 

21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; 

23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 

24 ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’

Love. Mercy. Faithfulness. Hope: ‘The Lord is my portion… therefore I will hope in him.’ 

When I started my role as a Pioneer Minister in Stanway, I would not have dreamt of all the stories that would unfold. I would not have imagined that in the 16 months of the pandemic, the Lord would not just double, but treble, the children and families who are worshipping with us on a regular basis. 

I dared to dream and hope, but would never have imagined that, in less than 14 months, not only would a Foodbank Satellite open in Stanway, but the Foodbank HQ would be offered premises in Tollgate retail park – a place which banks food for people in food poverty or difficult circumstances. I could not have imagined that the StanWell Hub, working towards the whole community of Stanway ‘Thriving Together’ socially, emotionally, physically, spiritually and economically would open a pilot café under a gazebo. Now it is a place for listening and chatting, offering hospitality and a non-judgemental space. Hope is alive in Stanway, as is God’s steadfast love, mercy and faithfulness. Would you like to join us? We are looking to welcome and train volunteers.

‘Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.’ (Ephesians 3. 20)

Rev’d Wendy Pagden