The emptiness is beautiful.
The silence is pure.
My body is relaxed and my mind quietened.
I sit alone in a very empty Salvation Army hall, recently relieved of years of clutter, stripped of its past and it's icons.
All there is in this space is me, a piano and a flag.
I don't play the piano.
I'm not really that interested in flags.
So I just sit.
In almost inexplicable quiet.
It is the calm after a storm, a quietness of surreal quality, the air is filled with the presence of God, thick, and very very real.
And I'm thinking.
Only the future lies ahead.
The past has passed away.
This week has been an amazing week. A defining week really. We have found ourselves praying with so many people, people just drawn to this place even though right now we are closed. We have heard from people who we have never met wanting to become part of this project of building a Sanctuary here in Ealing, London. An altar, a place of prayer, a place of hope, and a place of restoration. A Salvation Army Centre of prayer in one of the worlds biggest cities. A place that will bring the hope of Jesus to many who desperately need hope.
And right now.
Sitting in this awesome quietness?
I feel like I'm sitting on the precipice of something special.
For all the misery of the passing of the old in this place, for all the conflict, for all the standing up for Jesus that we've been involved with lately! God has granted me a glimpse of whats to come. I've seen through his eyes today the effects of the power of God. I've seen the red sky of the threat of a storm change to the glorious morning sun of the kingdom. I've seen the darkest of souls being changed in an instant as they step into this divine illumination. I've seen what power that compassion holds.
And in the silence.
I feel overwhelmed.
I've seen God do some breathtaking things.
But I admit I had my doubts this time. Dawn and I have always planted things from scratch. This time that wasn't quite the case. And looking at this fresh task we felt out of our depth. I don't really do tradition I'm afraid, not in its horrible religious sense anyway. I don't do retro Army or any of that stuff. Neither do I criticise it now. I just love Jesus, and want to help people.
But.
Here is God.
Doing his thing.
Whether Dawn and I are out of our depth or not.
He just astonishes us.
Relentlessly.
So then.
Suddenly.
My senses have been awakened to this task.
To build something new, something real.
God is making my weakness strong.
And.
As the ashes of a Corps that has seen better days smoulder and fade, God stokes them up and it soon it will be roaring with the flames of Holy fire.
It's just astonishing how God does it.
And the Spirit of God says to those who doubt him (including me sometimes), "Believe in me, rely on my word, I can change everything in an instant. Stay close to me, watch what I am doing. I love you and have everything in hand. Trust me, love me, wait on me, know that what I have for you is good and right, truly, wait and see."
