Youth Column: God is With You

Tuesday May 12 2020

In a time of great uncertainty, Danielle Duncan reminds us that church is not just a building for Sundays

I don’t know about all of you, but society is pretty panicked just now over the Coronavirus Covid-19.

I know what you’re thinking: where am I going with this and what good can I bring to this situation…absolutely nothing. BUT I just want to remind you that, in the midst of all this, God is with you. He has been since the day you were born and even before that, and he is with you now, and he will be with you tomorrow and forever. He isn’t done with you yet!

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)

I am not saying this isn’t bad, but it shouldn’t make us lose faith. Yes, churches have been closed but can I just remind you that the church is not a building. It is not something we just do on a Sunday. It is who you are and who we are called to be. Church isn’t a museum for the saints, but a hospital for the broken. At the end of the day, we are all broken and flawed, but God cares for us regardless of all that we have done and continue to do.

I am not going to say everything will be OK or that this time isn’t going to be difficult for some of us, but what I will say is this: think about what this ‘lockdown’ period can give you: the opportunity to do spend time with your families, to spend time with God, to talk to Him, tell him your fears. Spend some time alone with your Bible, alone in prayer.

What God always teaches me is, in the storms of life remember two things:

• God isn’t going to hurt you
• Be still and focus on him.

When you’ve done everything you can do, that’s when God will step in and do what you can’t. (2 Corinthians 12:10)

This may be a scary time for many of us, and it’s understandable, but we are all in this together. Paul says it best: we are a body, the head can’t say to the arm ‘I don’t need you’. We all need one another. So I’d encourage you all not to cut off all communication with people, even if you are in self isolation. God never intended for us to do life on our own, that is why we are all here. Take courage in the fact that God is in control and he knows what he is doing to look after his children. Draw close to God and he will draw near to you!

I know life seems scary at this moment in time, but in days like this we have to be thankful for who and what we have. We will get through this together.

Sending prayers, hugs and love to you all in this time of uncertainty.

Danielle Duncan is a member at Aberdeen: Stockethill

If you are under 30 and involved in the Church of Scotland, and would be interested in writing for this column, please email us on magazine@lifeandwork.org

Previous: God and Money