People from far and wide have been expressing their shock and dismay hearing of four churches in the Merritt area having been attacked and one totally burnt down by arsonist(s).

It’s a matter of some relief that one person has been apprehended upon suspicion and is facing related charges.

While acknowledging that theologically ‘church’ is not really a building or edifice rather than a group of assembled believers, it still hurts when a place designated as a holy meeting place suffers damage or is razed to the ground, leaving congregants without a roof or entailing them much inconveniences.

Religion is often represented as a city of refuge to which we fly when our troubles are too great or “we can’t take it anymore.”

While that, by itself, is an utterly false view of religion, it would indeed be a false religion which did not provide help when trouble does come.

It was on the basis of his own experience, that a vital relationship with God does provide such help,  the writer of Psalm 46:1 declared “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

If the disillusionment of that tragic day of Merritt church burnings is not to plunge us into darkness and despair, we also must discover a very present help in trouble.

Vital Christianity enables us to find help in time of trouble by refusing to run away. It accepts trouble as a part of life. And it ought to, for Christianity was born out of suffering and strengthened by it.

It was a conquering dictator levying his impossible taxes that made it necessary for Christ to be born in a stable. It was the tragedy and cruelty of the cross which gave the heart of Christianity, the love of God, its clearest representation and irresistible appeal.

Christianity even promises its followers not delightful situations but “In the world you shall have tribulation,” and “Blessed are you when men shall persecute you.”

Out of this real experience of trouble Christianity has learned that, although trouble is a part of life, it is not sent by God.

Suffering and sorrow are the result of living contrary to God’s laws: spiritual laws, natural laws, laws of health, laws of human relationships on the part of the persecutors as well as the persecuted — God’s laws every one of them.

When we disobey, we take the consequences, because the laws are unbreakable. Therefore, present suffering does not indicate that God has abdicated, rather it shows that He is still in control.

The wages of sin are indeed death. God said they would be.

“This is my Father’s world

O let me ne’er forget

That though the wrong seems oft so strong

God is the Ruler yet.” (Maltbie D. Babcock)

Christianity looks trouble full in the face, knowing very well that we shall sail  dangerous seas, but it is made confident by the promises of God.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…” — a very present help indeed.

Far from being a way around trouble, Christianity is, in fact, a way through troubles. It provides two specific techniques for successfully dealing with trouble.

The first of these is the yoke of Christ.

That great invitation in Matthew 11:28 is probably the most misunderstood passage of scripture: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls.”

This is not, as so many think, an invitation to a rest cure with all troubles removed. It is Christ’s invitation to “learn of me.”

Learn how to carry burdens successfully, then they will seem light. The secret of the meaning of this passage lies in the yoke, a very common article in Jesus’ day.

It was a piece of wood, shaped to fit the shoulders, used not for avoiding burdens, but for carrying them, one at each end.

Its basic principle is balance.

Jesus’ meaning was very clear to his hearers who had used the yoke so often. It was as though he were saying, in the language of our day, “Balance your own troubles with those of others and you will be able to carry both with far greater ease than if you struggled only with your own.

“When trouble descends upon you, reach out, help someone else and you shall find rest for your souls.”

It has been heartening to see the support and help that Merritt churches under attack have received from churches far and wide, even from the larger community itself.

Christianity’s other ‘technique’ for dealing with difficulties is to make them creative. When trouble comes, let us take hold of it; get something out of it; make it pay dividends; make it witness to the power of Christ.

That’s what Paul did in the prison at Rome which enabled him to write to the church at Philippi: “My bonds and sufferings have really tended to advance the gospel.”

But that did not just happen. Paul did it.

This is what vast numbers of people are doing today as they, from tragedy and difficulty, gain qualities and powers which enable them, more effectively, to minister to the needs of others.

That is making trouble creative. This is what Christ did with the cross. That is Christian.

Seldom, if ever, are we free to determine what experiences come to us. But we are, with Christ’s help, free to determine how we use those experiences.

God does not send trouble, but stands by to see us through. Real Christianity, far from evading difficulty, actually trains and equips one to deal with trouble.

Therefore, since these things are true, when “the rains descend and the floods come, and the winds beat upon your house” — and they will — “Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God — a very present help in trouble.”

Narayan Mitra is the Pastor of the Merritt Baptist Church, 2499 Coutlee Avenue, Merritt. You can reach him at [email protected].