We know from stories about King David’s life recorded for us in 1 and 2 Samuel that he had many painful experiences in his life – some arising from his own sin and some from other people’s sin.   He was definitely not writing from an ivory tower immune from the trials of this living in a fallen world.  Interestingly the verses in Psalm 23 where King David affirms his confidence that goodness and love would follow him all the days of his life come after the verses where he affirmed his confidence that God would be with him as he walked through the valley of the shadow of death.

I’ll be honest, the words “intimacy with God” haven’t always filled me with joy. I now, praise God, find myself saying, “Yes please! ‘Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you’” (Ps 73:25). Previously, my hard heart, bound up by religious pride and sexual sin, rebuffed any closeness with a seemingly judgemental God.

“The heavens declare the glory of God;the skies proclaim the work of his hands.Day after day they pour forth speech;night after night they reveal knowledge.They have no speech, they use no words;no sound is heard from them.Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,their words to the ends of the world.” Psalm 19 vs 1-4

Easter 2025 was an emotional and spiritual time for me. I want to share my resurrection story with you, that sin is defeated and the darkness of guilt and shame can be exposed to His marvellous light! I am praying for all same-sex attracted parents to know God’s light and grace in their lives and to testify that God answers prayers in ways we can never imagine. 

I was about 15 years old when I realised I was gay. Though I grew up in the church – my dad was a vicar – it wasn’t a topic I ever remember being addressed. My only frame of reference for what Christians thought about homosexuality was a quick mention in a Religious Studies class, where it was stated that Catholics were against gay sex, but that Protestants thought it was probably OK! Goodness knows how that summary had been arrived at, but I took it as gospel. Fine, I thought. I’m not ready to come out yet. This was the early 2000s and I didn’t know any gay people in my rural community.

David Murray’s book, The Story Changer, creates the feeling of sitting with a friend who gently reminds you that Jesus does not just help tweak our lives, but completely rewrites our stories. It captures the heart of transformation, not as a severe change, but a deep surrender to the One who restores that which sin 
has broken.