“Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me
when I was beset as a city under siege. ²² I had said in my alarm, “I am driven far from your sight.” But you heard my supplications when I cried out to you for help. ²³ Love the Lord, all you his saints. The Lord preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily. ²⁴ Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.” Psalm 31:21-24

“Either something or nothing must depend on individual choices. A stone may determine the course of a river. He was that stone at this horrible moment which had become the centre of the whole universe. Then came blessed relief. He suddenly realized that he did not know what he COULD do. He almost laughed with joy. All this horror had been premature. No definite task was before him. All that was being demanded of him was a general and preliminary resolution to oppose the Enemy in any mode which circumstances might show to be desirable—or rather to go on doing his best, for he had really been doing that all along.” (“The Joy of Genesis”, “PERELANDRA”, chapter 11, from Preparing For Easter; Fifty Devotional Readings from C.S. Lewis) 

“Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.” Thus says the Psalmist. We often come to problems and tribulations thinking “I must be able to resolve this situation and persevere on without anyone’s help”. How short-sided this thinking is — for we always have a helper just a breath away – one which the Psalmist knew “Heard his supplications when he cried out to the Lord for help”. (transliteration of verse 22) This is the realization the character comes to in the quote from C.S. Lewis. PERELANDRA is the second book in the Space Trilogy by Lewis, set on the planet of Perelandra, or Venus. It was first published in 1943. The main character seems to be beset with a problem Lewis equates with Constantine deciding whether to follow Christianity or not – in other words, it must be an earth-shattering, spiritual decision. But when he realizes that his most important battle is not whether he decides his next move rightly – but instead precisely and steadily fighting his battle with “The Enemy” – well, then he experiences the most profound joy. Why? Because he comes to realize that his most important battle is to oppose evil – to oppose Satan. This becomes not only a physical battle, but a profound spiritual one for us every day. But it is a battle we cannot fight alone. “The Lord preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.” When we are weak, then we need to remember that our faith makes us strong in the Lord – and when we are strong in the Lord, the Devil will never win the day.

Pastor Dave