Suez

 As soon as I saw the news item yesterday about the massive container ship blocking the Suez Canal I knew that God had something to say.  Every time there has been a news item involving boats in the past couple of decades I have felt the prophetic alarm bells ringing.  Im not sure why, but God seems to have stuff to say about boats.

The boat in question is called the Ever Given.   That's an interesting name don't you think?  It is owned by a company called Evergreen.  There is something about eternity in those names,  the eternal gift, and eternal life.  Jesus is the eternal gift - ever given for us.   But that is just an aside.  Here is what Im thinking - and please fell free to add your own thoughts in the comments as Im absolutely sure there is much more to say about this than I have grasped thus far.

This massive boat weighs 200,000 tonnes.  It is laden with 20,000 containers and is one of the biggest boats in the world.  But apparently a gust of wind blew it off course, causing it to skew across the  channel and then the engines failed and it got stuck.  So far ten tug boats and several excavators have not managed to free it.  Isnt it amazing that something as ephemeral as the wind could cause such chaos?  A force which we cannot control or manufacture can pick up one of the biggest objects on the oceans and put it where it wants.  When Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit He likens Him to the wind. He is not just a soft gentle summers breeze - He is a wild, brutal, massive force which can derail the plans of men in an instant, no matter how impressive and expensive.

The pandemic and Brexit have focused many minds over the past year on trade.  On the one hand there has been almost a complete disintegration of local commerce due to lockdowns across the planet.  There has been a massive rise in online trading, a huge downturn in the global economy and persistent wars of words over trade deals and tariffs and the like.  It is easy to look at the state of the world at the moment and wonder where it will all end.  Is it time to start stockpiling for the apocalypse?  Seriously, sometimes it feels like that.

But perhaps the grounding of the Ever Given this week is just a wee reminder that as much as we think that we are in control of trade and borders and commercial highways and consumer goods, actually one breath of the Spirit of God can change everything.   He is almighty.  He blows on the systems of the world and they grind to a halt.  All our best laid plans come to nothing in the face of a God who can move mountains and defeat demons with His little finger. ( Luke 11:20)  HE is the one who gives.  Everything that we have and need comes from the Ever Giving hand of God not the hand of Amazon or Tesco or Johnson and Johnson.  Our provision doesn't come on a boat through the Suez Canal.  Not unless that is the way God ordains for it to come.  And this week perhaps He has seen fit to put a pause on that particular mode of provision just to remind us that we are supposed to be relying on Him.  

In coming weeks and months we are going to see more and more news articles about the supply of food, vaccines and oil across the globe.  Don't fret if things look fragile and difficult.  God is our Father, our Provider and the lover of our souls.  He knows what we need and exactly how to meet our needs.  We need to listen to what He is telling us to do - right down to the things we need to buy and the things we really don't need.  And we need to pray that He will breathe His awesome wild Spirit into the systems of this world to throw off course the ones which are contrary to His will and purposes however disruptive that might look at the time!