7 minute read
UNSPOILABLE
There’s an old adage that goes, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” And yet the idea of having plans seems almost absurd in an uncertain and rapidly changing global situation. We’ve invited a few friends to share their reflections on some of their spoilt plans—and how, in contrast, God’s plans are unspoilable.
Bekah Goodchild
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These words from the beginning of Psalm 46 have been a great source of hope for me over the past few weeks. In this time of uncertainty and fear, it can be easy to think a lot about what we’d be doing now if all were as it should be, to look at our diaries and calendars and feel utter despair at the sudden emptiness of the foreseeable future. But this verse from Psalms is a great reminder of who our God really is: He’s not only bigger than the sources of our present fears, but also bigger than anything in our lives, full stop.
Christians can instead see this time, which has been stripped of much of the usual hustle and bustle that can otherwise overwhelm our lives, as a challenge to see God and our relationship with Him in new ways. COVID-19 can take away what can feel like so much of our lives, but the refuge and strength that we find in God, the fact that Jesus died for our sins out of love for us, and our inheritance as His children, can never be taken away; it can never perish, spoil, or fade.
So, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, the help God offers to us is ever-present. Our hope in Jesus Christ can never be cancelled and will never postponed; He will always provide strength. We will always find refuge in Him. He will never leave us or forsake us.
Bekah is a first year French and German student at Lincoln. She enjoys (uni)cycling and climbing and also likes playing piano more than her neighbors like to hear it. ▶
Thomas Farlow
As insane, and maybe pretentious, as it sounds, Oxford was never the dream university for me. Despite all the glitz and prestige on offer here, my sights were squarely set on a tiny Christian Liberal Arts college right outside Chicago. It just felt so right to study theology in all the ideality of a Christian bubble. After travelling out there, sleeping on the floor of a first-year dorm, tagging along to a day’s worth of classes and experiencing everything they had to offer, it seemed clear: this was the place for me. And I just knew it was where God was calling me.
A few days before Christmas, I got a package through the door, postmarked Chicago, Illinois. Not only had they offered me a place, but they had offered me their Presidential Scholarship. It was the dream.
But that’s never really the way things work out: like any good dream, it never entirely translates to the real world. Between private tuition fees, medical insurance, and flights, neither the generosity of my parents nor my scholarship was enough. And it soon became clear that without tens of thousands of dollars more, it wasn’t going to all to work out as I planned. It felt like what I thought God was calling me to wasn’t something that He was willing to provide.
Even after this, though, my university life didn’t turn out the way that I expected. As much as the plans we make feel spoiled or that God isn’t providing, we can take huge confidence that this isn’t really the case. Thinking back, it is so beautifully clear that in closing the door I longed for, He opened the door to something so much greater. Every day I spend in Oxford—even virtually—is his amazing blessing out of a situation that was initially painful and uncertain.
◀ Tom is a first year Theologian at Oriel. And he seems to be the sort of guy who always buys theology books but somehow never seems to get around to actually reading them.
Ilona Clayton
In February of Year 13, I ruptured the ACL in my right knee during a football match while doing a turn I had done a thousand times before. I haven’t been able to play football or touch rugby competitively since, which has been hard to come to grips with.
There was a delay for several months with the NHS, but they managed to find a surgery slot for me at the last minute. What was cool was that it fell exactly two days after my A Levels were over and it was also half term in Malaysia, so my mum, a teacher, was able to fly over and look after me for a week. God’s timing was, as always, perfect.
What wasn’t so cool was that my then boyfriend, who was also going to Oxford, broke up with me a month later and although I’d had the surgery so I could go back to playing sports competitively, I soon found out that it was unlikely to be possible.
At the time my faith was in shreds and looking back, I realised that it had a lot to do with my relationship and how I was choosing to spend my time. Within weeks I had lost the foundations I had built my identity on. When I got to Oxford I was swept up by the CU and I realised how frail those foundations had been. The cornerstone of my identity is now no longer something that can be taken away, but instead God-given: His Son, Jesus Christ. Even though my time at university wasn’t at all what I was expecting, those experiences have brought me to where I am now, and I am so grateful for them.
Ilona is a third year History and German student at Somerville. She loves dancing around her room, daydreaming, and using watercolours to decorate her walls. ▶
Jon Carlisle
This ongoing pandemic is a grim reminder of our own mortality. We are confronted with the fact that even when we search deep within ourselves, or in the world around us, true security is nowhere to be found. Both as a society and as individuals, we are driven to question: can I really put my trust in anything? The Christian response is a seemingly ludicrous “Yes!”, but what does that trust really look like, and what does it result in?
It’s easy to imagine some kind of loyalty-based system: if we trust God “enough” He’ll reward us with health and a bright future; we’ll look back in our old age and see how it all worked out for the better. In reality, as difficult as it sounds, God promises no such thing. Absolutely, for many people this cheery outcome will be the case (praise God!). I have no doubt that God will graciously work through these strange circumstances in ways we wouldn’t otherwise see. But the fact remains that there have been, and there will be, faithful and loving Christians who will contract coronavirus—and tragically, won’t recover. So can we really trust Jesus when He says that God’s people are securely held in His hand? Doesn’t Jesus promise “life to the full”?
In fact, Christian hope and trust involves looking back on past evidence, in order to look forward to a future certainty. God will bring restoration and justice to His creation, and He offers everyone the choice to accept eternal life in his perfect kingdom. But why would anyone give credit to this insane claim of eternal life after death? Well, to put it simply, because Jesus is alive! If you’ve never considered the evidence for his resurrection, I’d strongly urge you to investigate for yourself.
In the cold light of coronavirus, it’s clear our earthly lives are fragile and fleeting. With this in mind, God’s wonderful offer of eternal life with Him seems even more awesomely, joyfully, outrageously generous. <>
◀ Jon is a second year Mathematician at Keble. He loves music, puzzles, writing short descriptions of himself, and all things welfare.
