God saved the Queen, God save the King...

Yesterday afternoon the world once again changed irrevocably. The Queen, ruler of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, beloved by the world, entered her final rest and has now been welcomed home by her Heavenly Father. Like many other people yesterday I had the BBC news channel on in the background listening and waiting for the latest news. I had literally just started an online game of Settlers of Catan when Huw Edwards made the announcement. This meant that I was left to share my initial reaction with 3 online strangers but somehow it brought us together for that short time. As I was listening to Huw Edwards and Nicholas Witchell discuss their initial thoughts, two words kept coming up again and again - humble servant. In a world where we are beset with over the top, loud, charismatic leaders who tell us that they alone have the answers and can solve all the questions, the Queen was humble. The death of this humble servant has brought an outcrying of grief from across the world. As the President of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, said "(She) ruled the United Kingdom, but belonged to the world." It's hard to imagine this level of grief for any other world leader, and yet, she was a humble servant. She humbly served her God, her people and the world.

My life is very different to that of Elizabeth Regina but we have one main thing in common. We serve a great God. I may not rule millions of people, but God has placed me in my role in this place, to serve him as a humble servant. I don't expect outpourings of grief from around the world when I finally die, but it is my prayer that I will be welcomed home by my Heavenly Father saying "Well done, good and faithful servant."

My induction at church

I am just starting in my role - my induction at church was on Sunday. I am now officially in charge of the youth work at the church here. I pray that God will use me in my work here, that he will be glorified and that the young people will grow in their relationships with him.

This morning as I woke up and once again realised that it is unlikely that there will be another Queen in my lifetime, the hymn Lord for the Years played around in my head. The words of the third and fourth verses seemed most poignant: 

Lord, for our land in this our generation,
spirits oppressed by pleasure, wealth and care:
for young and old, for commonwealth and nation,
Lord of our land, be pleased to hear our prayer.

Lord, for our world where men disown and doubt you,
loveless in strength, and comfortless in pain,
hungry and helpless, lost indeed without you:
Lord of the world, we pray that Christ may reign.

We now have a King. God alone knows what sort of ruler he will be. God alone knows if King Charles III serves Him. The Bible calls for us to pray for our leaders. I pray for King Charles and for all the Royal Family at this time of grief. Most of all I pray that God would be glorified and that people would turn to him at this uncertain time.