Technology is great when it behaves itself but when it
suddenly stops working it can be very frustrating and as I
write to you this month Frank Spencer’s catchphrase
comes to mind: “I am having a bit of trouble.” My e-mail account on my
laptop has just decided to block me from sending any e-mails for no
apparent reason. After trying a few things to fix it, I had to revert to logging
into my account a different way which thankfully worked, and an important
e-mail was sent. This is to encourage you that even the minister is not
immune from things going awry from time to time and we can all relate to
this especially from the conversations I have had with some of you in recent
days about things that have stopped working at home. I guess the adage
“keep calm and carry on” and Maria’s optimistic attitude in The Sound of
Music can also help when sometimes things don’t work out as planned or
go wrong: “When the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window.”
There is always another way out or a solution to a problem if we pause,
take a break, perhaps make a cup of tea or coffee, think it through calmly
and then come back to it afresh. Failing that we can phone a friend or call
someone in with the necessary practical skills to try to help us. The other
thing we can do is to ask God for help. In fact, I can even save you time
looking up God’s phone number – it is Jeremiah 33:3 and it gives great
advice when we are unsure of what to do next: ‘Call to me and I will answer
you and tell you great and unanswerable things you do not know.’ Calling
on God is something we can all do whether it is technology or health related
or something else entirely and short prayers can be offered up to Him at
any time. The great thing is that they are put through straight away when
we do so. There is no need to go through an automated operator or a call
centre where we must wait in a long queue, or we must press 1 for this or
2 for that to get the right help or for the answers we need. It’s so reassuring
and encouraging to know that God provides the answer.

Take care and stay safe. Prayers, blessings, and love,

Robert