March/April 2024

There’s an old story about a donkey who is equally hungry and thirsty. Placed midway between fresh water and fresh food the donkey cannot decide which way to go. As he takes so long to deliberate and neither going to the food nor the water, the donkey dies.

We all make decisions in different ways. Some decisions will be spontaneous but others might be made after much deliberation as we weigh up all possible outcomes with lists of pros and cons. There’s also my hybrid approach. Whilst waiting to order a meal at a restaurant I tend to think through a shortlist of preferable options based on price, experience and whim, but then I spontaneously choose which one when the waiter asks what I want!

When it comes to discerning God’s will, we can sometimes feel like the donkey in the story, stuck forever in the middle, possibly even paralysed with fear over getting the decision wrong. It’s quite straightforward when God has shown us something in his Word but what about the many decisions we have to make where God hasn’t given us clear direction? To help us think this through, a handful of the articles in this edition are focused on the theme of working out God’s will in different situations.

We’re also fast approaching Easter and we have a selection of articles to point us to the death and resurrection of Jesus. Alongside these and our other articles we have the final article on the genres of the Bible, reviews and update.

As we have sought God’s leading to make decisions about what to include in this edition, I would naturally think that you’ve made a good decision in picking up this magazine and choosing to read it. May God bless you greatly as you do.