I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,
    ‘Seek me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth;
    I declare what is right.

Jilly and I spent a few days last week in Boston Spa, the village where we lived and served together in ministry for a number of years. I always have a sense, when I am there, that there are many prayer ‘seeds’ still waiting to sprout, and beautify the place, like bulbs in Springtime.

On one particular day, as I was praying, I remembered a season when the above words from Isaiah 45:19 seemed to grip us in our weekly Thursday morning prayer meeting: this understanding that we do not seek God in vain. A good friend, and I, used to regularly remind one another, ‘We don’t seek Him in vain.’ We had to admit that it sometimes feels like we do, but it isn’t true. Our feelings are liars.

As I wrote this short piece this morning, I remembered a song by Graham Kendrick: ‘In your way and in your time.’ Note the last verse especially:

”In your way and in your time
That’s how it’s gonna be in my life
And in your perfect way I’ll rest my weary mind
And as you lead I’ll follow close behind
And in your presence I will know your peace is mine
In your time there is rest, there is rest

In your way and in your time
That’s how it’s gonna be in my life
Dear Jesus, soothe me now till all my strivings cease
kiss me with the beauty of your peace
And I will wait and not be anxious at the time
In your time there is rest, there is rest

And though some prayers I’ve prayed
May seem unanswered yet
You never come too quickly or too late
And I will wait and I will not regret the time
In your time there is rest, there is rest.”