Phew it's hot...

A very hot day today and tomorrow the weather is set to get even hotter! We are expecting around 35° C. Not that I'm complaining, it's just hot! Having consistent weather however does make for a nice change, at least you know what your getting each day. I decided in the end not to go to immigration this morning - Friday it is! Thank you praying! I do feel like I'm gradually settling into life in Greece. There are still moments when you just want to watch episodes of 'the thin blue line' and talk about nothing but the Queen - whilst eating marmite. But I'm assured these are just moments. On the whole it has been great embracing Greekness and fascinating to learn about a country that is very much on my heart.

The sun setting over Glyfada 

This evening I joined the Glyfada Christian Centre to pray for the city of Athens. We went up a mountain overlooking Glyfada and sang songs and prayed for the people of Athens and Greece in general. It was a poignant moment as I looked out at the beauty of a country blemished by a crisis which is sorely felt among its people. If you speak to any Greek person it is soon evident that these are tough times for many. You also start to find that there isn't one clear answer for the way ahead. One person says this another says that, these are bleak times indeed. Yet as a Christian I can't help but have a different perspective, God is sovereign! Yes there is uncertainty, yes there is pain, but even in such difficulty, God is in control and has a plan which cannot be thwarted. For as Job declared, even after experiencing extreme suffering:

‘I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.   

Job 42:2     

Above all, the God revealed in the Bible and supremely in Jesus Christ is loving and good! And so we can trust (although it isn't easy) in his goodness and rest in his love. Stuck on my fridge I have seven statements about God's sovereignty to help me remember his hidden hand is at work. One I often look to is:

God's will is a great mystery, but I know that whatever He allows is necessary and for my very best in His eyes.

Please pray that for me this becomes an even greater truth in my life, but also pray that for the people of Greece, many come to know this truth for the first time, and turn to the God who loved them so much he sent his Son to die for them. Amazing love - sweltering you might say!