Questions by Lucy Mills

I rather think I’ve stopped looking for answers. It’s not that I am not interested. But they are slippery things and they are not always what they seem to be. I nod at the validity of the questions. I embrace them. But answers? Not so much.

Encounter? Encounter, I love. Revelation – mini moments of understanding, or a major, life-changing thought – yes, I believe in these.

Response – which is not necessarily the same as an answer – response is important. Even if it is simply a reassurance of presence.

Normality isn’t what it used to be, for many. Maybe there are lots of questions and very few answers. Uncertainty, restlessness and a sense of the road not taken, simply because we cannot see the road.

What motivates us now, when the normal markers of our lives feel in flux? It’s disconcerting when life’s familiar boundaries are stripped away and new ones are imposed. We are discomfited when the places or people who bring us the most comfort are less accessible to us.

We are stripped down to our most basic selves – the person we are today, not who we were yesterday, nor who we will be tomorrow. For we are works in progress, all of us.

Life is changeable and life changes us, so we look for our constants. What are they? What we care most about will shape our days. So what is it compelling us?

I wait and reflect, wondering what wisdom will be found if I take the time to discover it. I brace myself for the mistakes I will inevitably make, but hope that there is transformation here somewhere. It is tempting to fill up on distraction to idle away the time or divert myself from my sense of lack. But how can I use this moment in a way that sees beyond my limitations – to encourage, to build up, to comfort others, in the name of all-compelling love?

Have we placed too much value on something that cannot hold the weight of our expectations? Have we looked for heroes in the wrong places? In our attempts to distract ourselves do we get tangled up in lethargy and confusion? I have realised that having a divided heart is exhausting. But so often I am tugged in different directions.

Conversely, have we discovered hope and comfort somewhere we would have never expected? Have we found treasures in darkness or revelation in the desert places, and as Jacob once muttered, seen that ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it’? (Genesis 28:16)

Normality isn’t what it used to be. But there is still hope here, hidden in our hearts and held in our hands. Let’s be generous in expressing it in every corner of our lives.

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Each day, we will post a short article by one of Darton, Longman and Todd’s amazing authors, offering a personal reflection on our current situation in life. Sometimes this will be written with reference to one of their books, and sometimes about how they are living in response to the coronavirus and our current world situation. We hope it will give you a taste of the depth and diversity of DLT’s list – books for heart, mind and soul that aim to meet the needs and interests of all.

Today’s post is by Lucy Mills, author of Forgetful Heart: Remembering God in a Distracted World, which you can buy as an eBook and in print, and Undivided Heart: Finding Meaning and Motivation in Christ, eBook and print.