What do you turn to for comfort when things go wrong or you’re under pressure?

Food, chocolate, drink, sleep, your bed, a comfy cushion, a favourite chair, a walk, music? We all have places of refuge. I wonder what yours is? Many babies and young children have a comfort blanket (even Charlie Brown had one!) or a comforting thumb or finger to suck.

I have written before about how helpful I found the psalms were, when I was in hospital for many weeks.

I find Psalm 46 both reassuring and challenging. It doesn’t pretend that life is easy with no hardship. It talks about chaos and troublesome times with the world crumbling all around. In our lives we all have times when things go wrong and we’ve been experiencing that with the present pandemic.

Verse 1 points to God as our refuge and strength. When these inevitable times of trouble occur we can be assured that God is with us – an ever present help in trouble.

I don’t know about you but I don’t always “feel” God’s presence when troubles come. I don’t always find it easy to turn to God. I am sometimes too preoccupied with the problem. Someone once said that faith was holding your hand out in the dark and knowing it to be held”

Verse 10 encourages us to be still and know that he is God.

I have often used a meditation that begins with quietly saying the whole verse. You may know it.

Be still and know that I am God and subsequently each time you say it, gently and with time, leave off a word

Be still and know that I am God

Be still and know that I am

Be still and know

Be Still

Be.

It was a wonderful experience recently on a Thursday evening at 8:00pm to be able to pause what we were doing and go out and applaud our wonderful NHS and other essential key workers and carers. We are similarly asked to pause in the midst of our turmoil’s and to recognise that God is our God, and is with us whatever is happening.

Another way to still our mind is to concentrate on our breathing, by counting or saying “Come Holy Spirit” as you breathe in, and as we still our minds recall some of the promises of God, such as” I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5) or perhaps reflect on words of Jesus, or think of five things to be thankful for even in the midst of problems. Through this we can start to centre our minds on what is good, on God’s presence and provision, not focus on the problem at hand.

The psalm ends by reminding us that “the Lord Almighty is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress”

May you find comfort in today.

Jenny Jeffery

Note from Bethan: I have found this Christian Meditation on Youtube. The focus for this meditation is to come into an understanding of WHO God is, because when we KNOW God, we can be STILL. It lasts about 10 minutes and includes a christian lullaby