I emailed God last week…

I didn’t exactly mean to. I’d been rushed off my feet for a few days and couldn’t seem to find time to pray. There was this undercurrent of frustration in the back of my mind - a theme of feeling purposeless to God, just wasting my time on normal life stuff.

Finally, with an hour to myself, I started writing a letter on the computer. At first it was going to be to some wise Christians I know and admire. Halfway through the first sentence I realised that actually, I was writing to God. Rather than ask advice from people who might give me some of God’s wisdom, why not cut out the middle man and ask God myself?

I changed the heading to ‘Dear God’ and carried on pouring out my concerns. What should I be doing with my life? How come I have this sense of calling and a need for purpose, but I just continue to be a normal, middle class, stay-at-home mum with two kids, rather than living a radical lifestyle somewhere and changing the world? Blah, blah, blah...

Then I decided it was time for God to reply. With the thought, ‘What might God say if he replied to my email?’ I began to type. Things popped into my head as I did so – things he has said to me before, things from the Bible, and some things that seemed to come from nowhere. By the time I’d typed about five sentences, I was convinced the Holy Spirit was involved in what I was reading on the screen, and I was nearly laughing out loud. ‘Clare, Clare,’ I’d started, ‘you are worried and upset about many things – but only one thing is important’ (Luke 10:40-42)…

The overwhelming message was, ‘You’re fine as you are; I accept you completely; you are already serving me, so stop worrying’ and to accept this fact with peace and contentment would be ‘a beacon to others’.

I’ve learnt two lessons from this ‘email from God’. One, anxiety is poisonous, seeking to destroy our peace in the simple fact that Jesus has made us totally acceptable to God. Two, the Lord will use any means to speak to us! I recommend writing down what God might be saying to you now, maybe starting with a sentence of scripture, and considering what emerges carefully! It might be from him.