Don't Give Up

 

‘I am a man whose dreams have all deserted …

Don't give up
You still have us
Don't give up
We don't need much of anything’

 Peter Gabriel (with Kate Bush) ‘Don’t Give Up’

 I am, by nature, a planner. I like forward planning. I know some people find planning stressful, but I find just the opposite. For me, the absence of forward planning and early preparation leads to stress. To plan, and to look forward and – perhaps – even to dream a bit, is to heighten anticipation. It all offers a welcome foretaste of whatever it is that is coming.

It may therefore be no wonder that those of us who are like that, are finding that the current ‘pandemic-determined’ uncertainty with rapid plan changes can be deeply unsettling and stressful. I have already referred in recent posts to the weariness that can result and the stress of constant decision making.

And now, into all of that situation, on a more personal level, we have had to also handle a very unexpected change in our family Christmas plans. I say ‘change’. I mean really an almost total abandonment! This is not because of Omicron but is due to illness in the family (not Covid-related and not long-term serious, but certainly short-term disruptive).

To say I am disappointed would be an understatement… deflated, distressed, dismayed… and more besides.

Of course, all of this will pass (which I have also said in another recent post). However, it is playing into another deeper vein of disappointment that has been around as I contemplate my imminent retirement. That has to do with the church and its future, what I have been able to contribute (or not) to the life and renewal of the church, the roles I have been able to fulfil, and those I have had to step back from or decline due to health challenges.

As I now look back, I feel that my dreams for the future renewal of the church have not – as yet – come to much. The vision I had for a new way of church emerging has not been realised. And the kind of role I imagined (perhaps rather arrogantly!) I might have in all of that process came to an end some years ago.

I may have had dreams, but God may have had different plans!

I think of Joseph who was planning to get married to Mary. We might well imagine that he had plans and dreams. And then these were all shattered when he learned of Mary’s pregnancy. We can only begin to imagine what he might have been feeling. In the context of his culture and time it would have been beyond devastating.

But it was a different kind of dream that alerted him to God’s bigger plan. As Matthew tells us ‘all of this took place to fulfil what God had said through the prophet.. ‘ (Matthew 1: 22). God had a plan, and this plan had been around for a while! Joseph’s hopes and dreams may have seemed to have been dashed, but there was a bigger plan at work.

Now, I am not suggesting that all the difficult things that we may be facing in these days (as a society, as a church, or individually) are ‘planned’ by God or are his will in the absolute sense. I do not see God as some kind of capricious puppet-master!

But in everything we need to be ready to ask where God is in all that is occurring, to seek to discern his presence in the midst of his apparent absence and distance, to listen to his voice not simply reassuring and comforting, but also directing and revealing.

Perhaps in these kinds of situations there are questions to ask about what God can do, how we discern God’s presence and where we discover his way and will in and through it all.

In the Book of Proverbs (part of the Old Testament ‘wisdom’ literature) it is written:

‘The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps’ (Proverbs 16: 9)

So, don’t give up…

 

POSTSCRIPT: ‘Don’t Give Up’

That song (written by Peter Gabriel and sung by him in a duet with Kate Bush) spoke very deeply to me many years ago when I was on the point of utter despair. I was in the car and the radio was on and on came that song. I sat and wept as it seemed that it was so clearly speaking to me.

Perhaps it will speak to you too?

Peter Gabriel (good surname in this context!) wrote it about a man whose unemployment causes stress in his domestic relationship. The verses, sung by Gabriel, describe the man's feelings of isolation, loneliness and despair; the choruses, sung by Kate Bush, offer words of hope and encouragement.

Here are the lyrics:

In this proud land we grew up strong
We were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win
I never thought I could fail

No fight left or so it seems
I am a man whose dreams have all deserted
I've changed my name, I've changed my face
But no one wants you when you lose 

Don't give up
'Cause you have friends
Don't give up
You're not beaten yet
Don't give up
I know you can make it good 

Though I saw it all around
Never thought I could be affected
Thought that we'd be the last to go
It is so strange the way things turn

Drove the night toward my home
The place that I was born, on the lakeside
As daylight broke, I saw the earth
The trees had burned down to the ground

Don't give up
You still have us
Don't give up
We don't need much of anything
Don't give up
'Cause somewhere there's a place
Where we belong

Rest your head
You worry too much
It's going to be alright
When times get rough
You can fall back on us
Don't give up
Please don't give up

'Got to walk out of here
I can't take anymore
Going to stand on that bridge
Keep my eyes down below
Whatever may come
And whatever may go
That river's flowing
That river's flowing

Moved on to another town
Tried hard to settle down
For every job, so many men
So many men no-one needs

Don't give up
'Cause you have friends
Don't give up
You're not the only one
Don't give up
No reason to be ashamed
Don't give up
You still have us
Don't give up now
We're proud of who you are
Don't give up
You know it's never been easy
Don't give up
'Cause I believe there's a place
There's a place where we belong