Ros & Phil Boydell
Does this ever happen to you? Your friend shares something you’ve been thinking about but in her words. Suddenly your understanding deepens and clarifies. That’s what Ros Boydell did for me when I read the words she penned for The Navigators™ Worldwide Partnership last month. Her words are a good follow-up to Unconditional Love — Really?
Ros and her husband Phil lead the Navigator’s ministry in Scotland. Bill and I were privileged to get to know them and become friends the past few years. Ros is a gifted writer. She shares from God’s Word and how it gives perspective to her life. She shares vulnerably from what she knows. Life is hard.
“The LORD spoke to Job out of the storm.” Job 38:1. I know God speaks. I know there are many storms brewing. Bringing those two thoughts together stopped me. As I took them in, I felt my body relax captivated by this truth. I was reminded of Jesus calming another storm in Mark 4:35-41. Storms are the best backdrop to hear the voice of God, to experience his love.
Ros followed Job’s words with truths about God and his love. They offer new understanding.
“Going further into trust and hope requires humility, and a willingness to submit to the Spirit’s work in our lives. This humility (and teach-ability) is the doorway into a deepening experience of Christ’s love.”
“Whether young or old, we should expect life with Christ to be a never-ending deepening of our relationship with Jesus. This expectation can change the way we view the circumstances of our lives. Difficulties, however painful, can be received with curiosity. We can ask our selves, How will Jesus reveal himself to me in this experience? How will God use this situation to show me more of his grace? Peaceful and simple time can be received as a gift (James 1:17) and enjoyed for what they are, but without seeing them as a condition of God’s love.” The bolding is mine.
Difficulties and hard stuff abounded this week. My heart aches. Ros’ perspective brings a calm in the midst.
Thank you Ros for your wisdom. Thank you for your questions. I want to grow in curiosity. And I don’t want to assume God’s love is based on my fair-weather circumstances. I wonder, what do you hear when you read these quotes?
Click here to read of another very hard time in Phil and Ros’ lives. “Losing a child, I discovered, comes with so much feeling, it’s exhausting. And these feelings splurge themselves in uninvited ways, mainly anger. Anger towards insensitive people (quite a large category), or friends who keep their distance. Anger towards anyone who quotes Romans 8:28 at you.”
Copyright, Sue Tell, November 2020