Is God taking away our position in society, is he taking away our security, our ability to survive and function as we always have done, is it so incredibly difficult to get leaders to ensure the church will function, because our hope has been in the things God gave us, rather than in God himself?
Sometimes I wonder if we think the Christian life is a bit like rubbing Aladin’s lamp. We utter a quick prayer in the expectation that our wishes will be granted. This is not how Daniel approached prayer – he struggled, he wrestled, he tried to understand by studying and learning. Daniel worked at his relationship and his understanding of God. The more he studied, the more he realised he needed God’s revelation, and so he asked, help me Lord, explain to me Lord; God answered.
God is not someone to be played with. Worship is not something we can take lightly. We may not set up idols in church, we may not stop people from coming through the door on a Sunday – but do we set things in place that detract from God? Do we allow our focus to be shifted from God and onto something else?
No matter what we are facing, no matter how things appear, no matter how battered and bruised we may feel at times we are not a tu’penny, ha’penny, merely human organisation. No, we are part of the church of God!