Today my offering is a poem, based on Habakkuk 3:17-18.

Though the lockdown continues, and we’re confined to our homes,

Though restrictions are everywhere, and freedom feels a forgotten state,

Though we can’t work properly, and feel impotent and useless,

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord;

I will choose to be joyful.

Though the economy is nose-diving, and recession is looming,

Though the very fabric of normality feels torn in two,

Though desperation walks among the sunshine, and death reaches out to grab,

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord;

I will walk by faith and not by sight.

Though plans lie in tatters, and dreams have gone up in smoke,

Though helplessness exercises a vice-like grip on us, and constraints lock us in,

Though fears, uncertainty and doubt are everywhere, and I see no reason to hope,

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord;

I will choose to worship.

Though thankfulness is through tears, and gratitude walks alongside grumbling,

Though valleys seem deep and mountains too high to scale,

Though grief at times threatens to overwhelm and my footing feels flimsy,

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord;

I will be joyful in God, my Saviour.

My Bible readings today included part of Ps 57, which says, ‘My heart, O God, is steadfast,my heart is steadfast;I will sing and make music.‘ That got me thinking about being steadfast.

Isaiah 26:3 contains a promise I have leaned on many times throughout life, that God will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, or, as some translations put it, ‘fixed’ on Him. To be steadfast is to be immovable, to be resolute: steady, fixed firmly in place. All too often, I don’t feel steadfast and pray, along with David, ‘renew a steadfast spirit within me.’ (Ps 51:10)

The challenge for every believer every day (regardless of circumstances) is to keep our eyes, hearts and minds fixed on God. When we do that, we find we can stand firm. This means learning to lean more on God than on the outward props of life, be they jobs, relationships, routines or health. James Leavey says, ‘We actually need to become unstable, and lean more on God, asking the Holy Spirit to fill us and stir within us, and thank Jesus for all that he is, and all that he’s done. By coming back to these simple but essential practices, we can not only stand firm in the Lord, but thrive and flourish in these times too.’

Standing firm is something the Bible constantly urges us to do:

• Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends! (Phil 4:1)

•  Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. (1 Cor 15:58)

•  Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist (Eph 6:13-14)

• You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’” (2 Chron 20:17)

• The one who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matt 24:13)

• Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. (1 Cor 16:13)

The Bible never tells us to do something which is not possible with God. The reason we can stand firm is because God stands firm:

• Your love stands firm forever (Ps 89:2)

• Your statutes, Lord, stand firm (Ps 93:5)

• Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. (Ps 119:89)

We have a steadfast and immovable God and therefore we can be steadfast and immovable too!

Endurance, resilience and perseverance are vital to life. Life is a marathon, not a sprint, and ‘quick fixes’ are rarely successful in the long term.

At this time, it can be hard to keep carrying on. Whether we’re still working and feeling fearful, exhausted and perhaps taken for granted or not working and feeling useless, anxious and bored, the urge to give up is always present. Life, at the moment, may feel like a trudge rather than a race; we may feel bogged down and weighed down by burdens and pressures over which we have little or no control. Energy and enthusiasm may well have slipped away like water seeping slowly from a cracked pot. We may feel our feet dragging and our heads drooping.

How do we carry on when we feel we can’t go another step? How do we find the strength and motivation to keep going? The urge to stay in bed and pull the covers over us may feel so tempting right now.

For all of us at some point we will run out of steam. Our own strength, personality and will can only take us so far. Christians, however, don’t have to rely on their own strength, personality and will to get by. Instead, we have access to the presence and power of God.

1 Pet 5:10 says, “the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

Strong. Firm. Steadfast. Immovable.

I’m reminded of the folk song, used by slaves in America and political activists in the UK, which has as its chorus the repeated refrain, “We shall not, we shall not be moved.”

Perhaps standing strong like the tree by the river (mentioned in the song) is just as important as moving on. Perhaps being steadfast and standing firm is all we can do right now. But, as God’s word reminds us, that’s a hugely important thing to do. “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you.” (1 Cor 15:58)

We don’t stand in our own strength, but in God’s. (Eph 6:10-17) We don’t endure because we’re strong, but because He restores us. He enables us to carry on.

No matter how we feel, if we stand in His strength, we will find the grace to carry on. He won’t let us stumble and fall. He will restore us. “By the grace of God I can carry on.” (‘Forever’, Chris Tomlin)

Friday 8th May is VE Day, the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. It’s important we remember and commemorate historical events like this and tonight we looked at some of the reasons why, including what life was like in those days. We might grumble about 41 days in lockdown, but the Second World War lasted from 1st September 1939 until 8th May 1945. We might chafe at queuing to buy food, but food was rationed then (the picture is a week’s rations for 1 adult.)

In the Bible, there are many times when God’s people were urged to remember who He was and what He had done. Tonight, we looked at Joshua 3 and 4, when God enabled His people to cross the River Jordan on dry land and were urged to take memorial stones from the river to commemorate this miraculous intervention. Stones were often used to build altars (see Gen 26:23-25, Gen 35:14, 1 Sam 7:12); they were a visible reminder to future generations of what God had done.

Ps 78:4 says, ‘we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.’ Our job is not only to remember and commemorate what God has done, but to pass these facts on to others. We as a church are celebrating 10 years in the building at Market Street, remembering God’s miraculous provision (how a church with just over £7,500 in the bank took possession of a building costing £170,000 and how God’s provision continues to this day – if you want to know more about this, read ‘How We Got Here’ on the church website under ‘Blog.‘) When we’re allowed to gather again, we hope to have a celebration day to commemorate this! But each of us have stories to tell – individual stories, family stories, church stories – which we need to commemorate and pass on.

What will our memorial stones look like? They might be actual stones (gathered from our gardens or walks and painted perhaps); they might be craft activities done in lockdown or journals kept to remind us of these times. When we look back on these in years to come, people can say, ‘I did this at a time when we were forced to stay at home, when we couldn’t go to the church building as usual’… but how much better if we can also combine this with something that says ‘… and even then God helped us; God provided for us; God cared for us.’  Because God surely does help us, provide for us, care for us and lead us forward, now as He did in 1945, as He did in Joshua’s time. God is there, always working for good, and we need to remember and commemorate this… and tell others!

After the magnificent news of the resurrection at Easter, you would have expected the disciples to be so thrilled by their encounters with the risen Lord that they would have been quickly transformed into vibrant witnesses. Instead, we find a strange silence lingering after Easter Sunday; the disciples were still indoors a week later (John 20:26), not making any visible impact on their society but still huddled in fear. Then, when Jesus next meets them (John 21:1-22), we find them fishing – not for men, but for fish. They returned to the familiar, to their old professions, to what life was like before they had met Jesus. It’s as if Easter had never happened.

We may wonder how they could have forgotten so quickly how their lives had been transformed by Jesus or how they now forgot their calling and commission, but Jesus came to them not with condemnation but with questions that reminded them of the core of their faith: love for Him. Three times He asked Simon Peter if he loved Him, effectively saying, ‘Do you love me more than the old way of life, the old routines, the way you used to live and think and act? Am I more important to you than your career, your job, your friends, your personal ambitions? Am I more important than making money? Am I more important than the things of this world? Do you love me? Am I truly number one in your life?’

This is the crux of the matter. Jesus had new things for Peter to do – to feed His lambs, care for His sheep and minister to others in His name – and as we turn to the book of Acts, we see Peter doing exactly that, filled with fire and passion after the Day of Pentecost and serving Jesus even to the point of death himself. He learned to put Jesus first, not to fret about what others would do (John 21:20-21) and to serve Jesus faithfully, living out His love throughy sacrificial service. That’s what we are called to do too.

These are strange times for us; lockdown is not what many of us have experienced before, although we should perhaps remember that for the chronically ill and elderly, perhaps little has changed in their daily routines. Most of us, however, find this period completely unfamiliar: the normality of work and school routines has gone; the normality of seeing friends and family has been disrupted; the normality of being able to go where you want when you want and do whatever you want has been severely impacted. Even the normality of church life has been shaken, for online services, however helpful, are not the same as the ‘real thing’! For most of us, this has meant much adjustment and the creation of a ‘new’ normality, or new routines.

We may be struggling to do this and struggling to know how to adapt, but people are hugely resourceful and creative, and most of us are adapting in many ways. We find in the Bible that this is not as unprecedented as we feel it is and can garner tips from people there as to how to live in abnormal normality.

Noah and his family lived in lockdown on the ark, with rain pouring down for forty days and forty nights and animals everywhere. I doubt that can have been a peaceful existence and yet they emerged with thanksgiving and praise.

The Israelites came from the relentless work schedule of Egypt into the wilderness where they moved at God’s command, never quite knowing whether they would stay in a place for a day or for months. They gathered manna for food, rather than enjoying a wider range of food they had known in Egypt, and it must have seemed an endless journey to them.

Later, God’s people would live in exile, far away from the temple and feeling mournful for all they had left behind. But in each of these situations, God’s people survived, with new routines, new food and new practices, because they learned to trust God with them through it all.

God’s presence with us is the constant in our abnormal circumstances and as He guides us through to some kind of  new ‘usual’, we can have hope, strength, comfort and peace because of His never-changing nature and unfailing love.

Through it all you are faithful
Through it all you are strong
As we walk through the shadows
Still You shine on. (‘Through It All’, Matt Redman)