Last weekend the Girls’ Brigade Europe Executive- a group of ladies and young women from across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland- met in Antrim, NI, to continue God’s work through GB in Europe. It was an exciting weekend with many projects discussed, reviewed and introduced. During the weekend, Vivienne, the Vice President for Europe, led us in a really powerful reflection, and we looked at the broken world in which we live. Here’s what she shared with us:
In Genesis 6:5-22 we read of the flood- a familiar story for many. In this, God looks at the world he had created, a world which he had made perfect, yet which had fallen as a result of man’s wickedness. For the first time since his creating, God looked at the world and was displeased with what he saw- he wished he’d never made it. In verse 6 it says ‘It broke his heart’. The world had gotten to be such a wicked place, man was continually doing wrong, and God was upset by all that he saw.
Look around you- is the world described in Genesis 6 really that different to the world in which we live today? We too live in a broken world. Look at the girls in your company- what evidence do we have of this ‘broken world’ in them? If you have a spare five minutes, grab a pen and paper and think about the issues that affect these young women with whom we work. Think of the society in which they live, the pressures they face, what they are exposed to, what they have to deal with as they grow up. The list is massive! We do indeed live in a broken world.
In this story in Genesis, God uses Noah as His agent to do His work on earth- to gather the animals two by two, along with food and the rest of his family, and to build an ark and God promises Noah that He will keep him safe.
What do we know about Noah from this story? We know only that ‘he was a righteous man…and he walked with God’. (Genesis 6:9) God has placed each and every one of us in Girls’ Brigade for a reason. He wants us to be His agents in this broken world. He wants us to be bold and speak the truth, to love and listen to these girls, and to focus on what really matters.
What do you think God would say to Girls’ Brigade – and you – as His agent in this broken world?
And most importantly… what are you going to do about it?
This story is so powerful, and so relevant to us today. Thank you to Vivienne for sharing it with us. I hope that you will be blessed with this as we on the Executive were also blessed.
Love and blessings,
Charlotte
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