For one person searching for God in Norwich, Eastern Synod, the answer came in an unexpected way; a call to walk with God. They share more with us:
For some context, I’ve moved from church to church a lot in my life. I’m in a same-sex marriage, and that means we’ve struggled to find somewhere to settle, but after prayer, we felt God leading us to the URC and have been blessed with a loving, welcoming place to call home.
More recently, I attended a discernment event to reflect on the calls that God may be putting on my life, and after the event was over, I decided to head outside to pray on it all. My housemate, who’s a Roman Catholic, also felt pushed to head out and pray, so we drove to the Roman Catholic Cathedral together and split up so we could pray in different parts of the building.
As soon as I settled down to worship and to listen to what God was saying to me, instead of any of the answers I was hoping for, God cut through my prayers and asked, with a quiet but clear voice: “Why are you here?”
“...It’s your house, Lord. I’m allowed to look for you here.” I foolishly tried to 'shh' the bits I didn’t want to hear so I could so I could focus on what God had to say about the topic at hand.
The question “why are you here?” kept coming back to me, eventually being replaced by a command: “Go outside.” I didn’t know what to make of it; I’d only just arrived! However, I obeyed and, feeling confused and a little put out, went outside.
“Here, Lord?” I stood outside the doors and began to pray again, appreciating the sun on my face and presuming that’s why I’d been sent there. But I was wrong.
“Walk with me.”
Even more confused, I walked a few meters, stopped further along the side of the cathedral, and continued praying. “Here, Lord?”
“Walk with me.”
The response kept coming, and meter by meter, I shuffled my way around the building, stopping and starting; each time, with the same patience and gentle good humour as before, the same words came: “Walk with me.”
We kept this up until I thought I’d run out of cathedral, but still the words came. I ended up leaving the grounds and walking down the street. ‘Where are you taking me, Lord?’, I thought. Suddenly, I felt very much like a nomad again, walking with God without a church to go to. But, very well, I said - if that’s where I’m meant to be, Lord, I’ll walk with you.
I’m not good at spatial awareness, so as I was led around to the back of the cathedral grounds, I was very slow at working out where I was being sent, until I turned a corner and finally saw it ahead of me: the URC building next door! Suddenly, I understood, and I burst into laughter and tears.
God has a real sense of humour, not to mention patience. I’m glad I listened and stepped outside when God asked me to. It was a tiny act of faith, and the gift I received at the end of it hit far harder than anything I could have been told in words. It just goes to show, when we are called to walk with God, we should always trust in where we are being led, even if we don’t understand the road straight away.
How has God guided you along the Way? How have you been led to live the life of Jesus today? Share your story with us. E-mail wtw@urc.org.uk
