WE all like a change, just to get out, take a walk, do something different. Some of us change for the better, try something new, look for something better, a new relationship, a new friend or a new opportunity. Others, who are more pessimistic, like to reflect on the line of the hymn that says “Change and decay in all around I see...”

Was it Dale Carnegie who wrote, “Two men looked out from prison bars, one saw mud, the other stars”? Things are never so bad that they could not be better.

One hymn writer wrote, “I believe in transformation, God can change the hearts of men and refine the evil nature till it glows with grace again.”

God is a god of surprises; he is a god who can change and transform our outlook, our nature and our lives. Listen to this simple prayer… “In this quiet moment, still before thy throne, conscious of thy promise, knowing I am known, in this quiet moment, set my spirit free, in this quiet moment, make a better me.”

George Macdonald, gazing at a newborn child, said, “I want to help you grow as beautiful as God meant you to be when he thought of you first.”

So, in my depressive moments, I simple turn to a God of surprises and say, ‘God, surprise me?’ And why not? Wrote Mary Peters… “We expect a bright tomorrow, all will be well; faith can sing through days of sorrow, all, all is well. On our Father’s love relying, Jesus every need supplying, or in living, or in dying, all must be well.”

Things are not always as bad as they first appear. Just remember, a molehill is a mountain to the mole that built it.

Alistair Dawson

Retired Salvation Army officer