‘A very present help in trouble’

 

As I write (for 20 April deadline*) the government has announced that lockdown will continue for another three weeks. Ministers insist that they will follow the science when it comes to deciding when to ease measures designed to combat coronavirus. The trouble is that responding to Covid-19 is an inexact science. Experts don’t always agree on the best way forward. Some public health advisors worry that the economic and social effects of prolonged lockdown could be devastating. Maybe by the time you read this the Prime Minister will be back at the helm and an exit plan will have been announced.

Who knows? Christian believers have been just as affected as everyone else when it comes to  the current pandemic. Our faith gives us no immunity from viruses, or the disruption of lockdown measures. All of our church services and activities have been suspended. Fellowship is maintained by means of phone calls and Skype. Messages from the Bible are no longer proclaimed in church buildings, but posted online via YouTube and Facebook (see our website for more info: www.pbc-ebc.org.uk).

Covid-19 has exposed the limits of human knowledge, political leadership and scientific expertise. Hopefully we’ll get out of this eventually, but no one can be sure how, or when. Our sense that, ‘I am the master of my fate and captain of my soul’ has taken a serious knock. The fact is that we were never really in control. Our best laid plans were always subject to disruption by unforeseeable events. Coronavirus has just brought this home to us in a big way.

In a changing and uncertain world we need a message of hope that has stood the test of time. For generations believers have found encouragement in the words of Scripture. Psalm 46 assures us, ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble’. The psalm affirms, ‘The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress’. God came to be with us in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is ‘Immanuel, God with us’ in human form. Jesus entered our world of suffering and grief to break the powers of sin and death. He died on the cross and rose again that we might be forgiven and have the hope of eternal life.

Psalm 46 points beyond this passing world to the City of God. The Book of Revelation offers a wonderful vision of that city where God will dwell with his people for ever: “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.’” (Revelation 21:3-4).

One day pandemics will be a thing of the past. In the meantime it is good to know that we can turn to God and find him ‘a very present help in trouble’.

* For News & Views, West Lavington Parish Magazine and White Horse News