Our Vicar David Writes...

Some of you know that I'm a football fan, and I enjoy being Honorary Chaplain at Poole Town Football Club. This has been a tough season for PTFC and, like my friends who follow Southampton in the Premier League, we are hoping for the best but fearing the worst at the end of the season. Prompted by all this I find myself thinking about the ups and downs of life. All of us experience fluctuating fortunes in life, and prefer to avoid the tough times.

One person who knew both ups and downs well was St Paul. Early in his career he had been a pillar of the establishment, an up-and-coming Pharisee involved in punishing those early Christians who were ruffling feathers and causing trouble. But then he became a Christian himself and he started getting on the wrong side of the ‘justice’ he used to mete out. He was accused, beaten and imprisoned several times, getting run out of town in some of the places he went speaking about Jesus. And he got shipwrecked, bitten by a poisonous snake and various other misfortunes.

And yet he was able to write, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation” (see Philippians chapter 4 if you’d like to read more). Paul had a clear sense that God was alongside him in the highs and lows of life, and countless others have followed suit all around the world as history has unfolded since then.

However things unfold for you, I hope that – like Paul – you will be able to be content in all circumstances.

Wishing you God's best,

David