Thought for the month – For this I have Jesus (August 2025)

It was the end of a Ladies’ Breakfast in the Chapel, February 2012. They had been singing that song by Graham Kendrick:

It was at this moment that I arrived to draw Sandra out of the room to tell her the news that I’d had from Cambodia that our 4½ year old granddaughter Poppy had fallen from a high balcony onto concrete with severe, life threatening injuries.

Suddenly, what had been a joyful occasion of fellowship when two friends had shared about their visit to the border of Cambodia with Tear Fund, had become deep sorrow.

And the title of that song describes those two different emotions: ’ For the joys and for the sorrows The best and worst of times …’

As the news spread amongst the ladies as they were beginning to pack up, they all fell to prayer for the situation and the shocked family.

It was a precious moment to hear them voicing their prayers. And the realisation dawned for us that For this I have Jesus.

As the Lord had told Moses to assure Joshua as he prepared to lead His people into the promised land, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you norforsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discour-aged.” (Deut 31:8), so the writer to the Jewish Christians in Hebrews 13:5 reminded them, ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” This still applied to THEM. And it still applies to US for every circumstance, every experience we may be going through, if we have put our trust in Jesus.

For us at that shocking moment – a seeming worst of times – we had Jesus. And if we were to look through the other verses of the song, we read of broken times, moments of elation, disappointments, old regrets, prayers and longings that seem unanswered yet – for this I have Jesus. Weakness of the body, nights of doubt and worry – for this I have Jesus.

And it was surely the Lord Jesus, by His Spirit that laid clearly on Sandra’s mind, particularly, back there at that moment the words Moses gave to the tribe of Asher in Deuteronomy 33:27 The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

We are ever thankful to God, and indeed for the prayers of so many people at that time, that He raised Poppy up, restored her to full health and as she recently had her 18th birthday, is planning to serve the Lord over the coming year in Singapore and then Sydney, Australia working with the children of missionary families as she herself has been.

If you have read through this, please forgive the personal reminiscences, but can you say that for this, for every situation, I have Jesus?