A perfect time to reflect

A perfect time to reflect

Reaching a new season allows us the time to look back on God’s dealings with us over the years, writes Maldwyn Jones

Maldwyn Jones

The beginning of a new season is a good time to look back on our lives and, as Christians, to reflect on God’s dealings with us over the years. My mind went back to my student days at Capel. I entered Bible college in 1967 and spent two extremely happy years at the college. Friendships were established during those two years that remain solid to this present day.

Looking back to the time when I entered Bible college, I realise that there were two overriding personal goals that had unconsciously embedded themselves into my mind. The first was a fairly natural goal – the pursuit of knowledge. I was going to college to learn. I had felt the call of God upon my life to the work of pastoral ministry. Entering Bible college was the first step in response to the call of God.

The second goal was not as obvious in my thinking as the first. Nevertheless, it was fairly deep in my subconscious thoughts and would need to be addressed.

This second goal was the search for – and need of – personal spiritual security. I left my home town of Porth, in the Rhondda Valleys, with conflicting emotions. I had a sense of eager anticipation, and, at the same time, I felt very inadequate. In this frame of mind, I made my way by train to Capel. This was to be my home for the next two years. It was the beginning of 56 years of ministry within Elim.

The two goals I entered college with were dealt with in very personal encounters with the Lord. Sometimes, Christians speak glibly of spiritual encounters. They use the phrase ‘God spoke to me’ so often that it would appear they regularly hear the audible voice of God guiding them. God speaks to us in varied ways: through the beauty and splendour of nature, through the preached word, through the gifts of the Holy Spirit and in our devotional times when we are open to the Holy Spirit. But, undeniably the most consistent way in which God communicates to us is through his written Word – the Bible. Whilst in college, I brooded over a poor exam result. I went to a quiet place with my Bible. As I read through Philippians, a verse I had underlined sprang up at me, it was Phil 3:10, my personal missions text.

The great Apostle expressed the deepest longing of his soul: “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.”

In my seeking after knowledge, I realised that the most important factor for me was to know Jesus in all his fullness. It is more than knowing about him, about his ways and his works. It is even more than knowing about his crucifixion and resurrection. It is knowing HIM! On the issue of personal spiritual insecurity, I had been told that it was possible for a Christian to lose his salvation. Welsh Pentecostalism had been heavily influenced by the teaching of the Apostolic Church. As a young Christian I was given dire warnings, not from the pastor but from other church members, as to the consequences of me going to certain places and partaking in worldly pleasures and activities.

I was shown Hebrews 6:4-6 as the ‘proof’ text that I could lose my salvation. Whilst in College, I worried over this particular passage of Scripture. On another visit to the quiet place in college, I found myself wrestling with it. I suddenly sensed the presence of the Lord and received my Saviour’s assurance that I am his and he is mine and that I am eternally secure in him.

As we face spring, let’s allow God’s precious Word to lead, guide, assure and challenge us.

Maldwyn has been an Elim minister for more than 50 years and was appointed Elim’s Official Historian in 2014. He is now retired but still actively involved in various aspects of Elim’s work and ministry. He has written two books on the history of Elim: ‘And they came to Elim Vol 1: 1915-1940’ and ‘And they came to Elim Vol 2: 1940-1980’. Available from Amazon and other bookshops.