Last summer we were planning to carry out improvements to one of the cubicle houses so I decided to put in some extra effort with the pressure washer. Soon, things needed to be moved and, as there was no one around to help, I moved them. I was quite pleased with my achievements until I started to feel pain in my back.
Instead of heeding the warning signs, I kept going until the job was completed. My back ached for some weeks but I continued with all my usual activities until one morning in early September I was getting up from the breakfast table when, wham! I was in agony.
An unwelcome invasion
Surely I would recover quickly? Unfortunately, no. After several days of excruciating pain I realised I had to cancel everything I had planned and it was several months before life even resembled normality. The injury was truly an invasion to my life that I would have done anything to remove and get back to my usual routine.
I never imagined that a few months later a disease called Covid-19 would bring distress and disruption to everyone’s lives as the world deals with a pandemic. People are separated from family members and friends, and all normal interaction outside the home has ceased.
Many are dealing with illness and bereavement and we are truly indebted to NHS. Farmers are facing the additional task of completing work under current restrictions. There are many challenges including accessing the necessary supplies required to keep the farm functioning. These are definitely unwelcome times.
At Easter, we think about the time Jesus spent on earth and how He faced many unwelcomed times. We see how He was denied by even one of those closest to Him. “Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, Peter, before the cock crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.’” Luke 22:34
Jesus faces unwelcome times
The once jubilant people of Jerusalem rejected him “... the whole crowd shouted, ‘Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!’ (Luke 23:18). Pilate pleaded with them three times to ask for Jesus to be released but they called for a murderer to be released instead. They rejected the One who had compassion on them and who had performed many miracles in their midst.
When the time came for Jesus to be crucified, He prayed, “‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’” Mark 14:36. I did everything I could to ease my back pain and, with infinitely greater physical, mental and spiritual suffering, it is no surprise Jesus did not want to go to the cross. However, He was willing to sacrifice Himself so that He could take the penalty for our sin.
Jesus’ death was not the end of the story. He rose victoriously from the grave on the first Easter Sunday, as Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15:4 “…that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
The Bible tells us we live in a fallen world and there will be, for a temporary period of time, illness and difficulties. Mercifully, Jesus offers restoration and hope to everyone, including Peter, whom He met with on the shore of the Sea of Galilee following His resurrection.
If we accept God’s salvation plan, He will comfort us and give us hope as we look forward to the time when Jesus will return and restore all things.
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Charlotte Stevenson farms with her husband, Jim, and son, James near Kilkeel in County Down and is a member of Mourne Presbyterian Church. Having worked in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s Assembly Buildings in Belfast for a number of years, Charlotte retired in December 2017.
Her blog appeared in a fortnightly column entitled ‘Good News For the Countryside’, in today’s Farming Life, where people from a farming background, or who have a heart for the countryside, offer a personal reflection on faith and rural life.
You can look at other blogs in this series here.
If you would like to talk to someone about any of the issues raised in this article, please email Rev Kenny Hanna at khanna@presbyterianireland.org or call him on 028 9753 1234.