s2s - Thought for the month - March 2022

 

When the cameras stop filming.

 

“The world has become a smaller place”; it’s a phrase we’ve all heard and can think of ways that it has been seen during our own lives.

Look way back in history and the effect is seen to be much greater; all travel was only on foot - what an invention the wheel was, but you can hear the sceptics; “Mmm, it’ll never catch on!”

 

Transport developments and developments in communication are probably two of the most significant factors in “shrinking” the world - for most of us.

I met a man in an Australian small town who, at the age of 88, had only left town once to travel any distance. He’d gone to Sydney, a journey of around 250 miles; once was enough, he didn’t intend going again! 

 

Developments in communication have allowed us access to news 24 hours a day if we so wish - World News, more or less as it happens. From our TV, radio, even the phone in our pocket we can keep in touch with events on the other side of the world.

 

I wonder though, if there is a downside to this; do we become so used to tuning in and out as it suits us that we forget that the situation in the news doesn’t stop when we stop watching?

 

We will all have seen images recently of those fleeing towns and cities in Ukraine; a father watching his wife and children leaving on a train; a young girl carrying her pet cat; an elderly man stumbling as he crosses a river on a makeshift bridge, but once we switch off, do we remember the individual or just the headline?

I’m not suggesting that we forget about it completely, but those individual faces, how long do we remember them?

 

We know, with certainty, that God doesn’t forget them; He knows each of them by name; Luke 12: 7, tells us this, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Such is the minute detail in which we are known to Him.

 

When the news cameras stop filming, the pain of those who have been the focus doesn’t stop, and while we might switch off and forget the faces we’ve seen, none are forgotten by God who is our ever present source of strength.

 

“If I say, my foot slips, Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.”   Psalm 94: 18, 19

 

“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”   Deuteronomy 31: 6

 

God bless you.

 

#GodBlessUkraine