I’ve recently revisited a book called 30 Days by Nicky Gumbel. I’ve found it helpful in getting back to basics and helping myself stay focused on God whilst we’ve been in lockdown in the UK.

Excuses

One of the chapters in the book deals with the excuses we can make in our service for God, and our lost desire to give him our best. There are some things we’ve had to stop or put off during lockdown, not because of our lack of willingness, but out of necessity. But have we replaced them with similar things, or have we used that necessity as an excuse? Now, more than ever, there is a huge online focus for church activities, prayer meetings and outreach which are great opportunities, but not always easy things to do. 

There are things that genuinely can stop us from being able to do some of the activities of a Christian lifestyle. The challenge is to not let them build up and become something that we then use as an excuse rather than a real issue because we’ve lost the desire we once had. 

When we’ve let some of our difficulties become excuses we can question if we are good enough, if we’re worth the effort, or what the point of the Christian life is. But like the five loaves and two fish were capable of feeding 5,000 when given to the Lord Jesus, we need to realise that if we put ourselves in the Lord’s hands he can do amazing things with us and use us where we didn’t think it was possible. Whether we feel up to the task or not, the Lord can still use us, we just need to be prepared to give ourselves to him and his service. 

Paul Harrison, The Church of God in Birmingham