Encouragements for our troubled times No. 34
COVID-19 Series | Date: 12 November 2020
The Elders and Deacons want to encourage the members and those who regularly meet with us through this weekly letter. If you have news which you would be happy to share with the fellowship or request for prayer, then please let us know.
A message from our Pastor
Psalm 121:7-8
“The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore."
One of the questions on people’s minds, as they face another three weeks of lockdown, is ‘will I be able to bear the isolation. Will I be able to survive not seeing my friends and family, and not being able to go out and socialise.’ And for us, who are part of the Lord's family, it is hard that we cannot meet up for fellowship, worship and service. Will we survive? The answer of the Psalmist is ‘yes.’
“The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.” Much can happen all around. We may even suffer physically as we are battered by this fallen world. But our inner life, our soul, shall be preserved by the Lord who has given His life for us; to have us for His own for all eternity. He will keep our soul from all evil. He will prevent us from falling back into evil and godlessness. He will maintain us and support our new life in Him. And when we turn to him in times of despair, He will be there for us, to uphold us and comfort us. As He assured Paul, in his time of suffering from a thorn in his flesh; “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” We may be weak, but we can always rely upon His grace towards us, strengthening us and keeping us.
“The Lord shall preserve you're going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.” The Lord will preserve us wherever we are. Whether we are isolating in our house or have to venture out. He will be with us and keep us if we have to go to the hospital for treatment or are put onto a ventilator on an intensive care ward. He will preserve us, even when we come to draw our last breath and face that last, great adventure of faith; for He will preserve us forevermore. Nothing can separate us from Him; not time, nor distance, nor anything that man can do or satan devise. Forevermore we are safe in Him, ‘preserved in Christ Jesus.’
As Paul said, “I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39.