"Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests" Ephesians 6.18
Are leaders and scientists praying for the right solutions to COVID-19? COVID is a monster challenge, probably beyond the wit of man to solve. Even SAGE scientific experts have a frightened, weary look in their eyes talking about the new variant in the UK. They are banking on vaccines working, but will they? What if a new variant comes along which current vaccines cannot touch?
There are illnesses that are well beyond our ability to solve. I know because I had one. Early on, in post viral fatigue syndrome which some types of Long COVID appear to ressemble, I knew I was up against something far, far bigger than my (average) intelligence. My very survival was at stake. I had to find a way through - or lay down and die.
There were no easy, obvious answers and no magic bullets. The best I could do was to break the problem down into units and tackle it, aspect by aspect. In my case, I broke it down into learning about and respecting my body, radically changing my behaviours and my diet, changing my work, learning through cautious experimentation and from informed medical understanding i.e. from those in the know - doctors with this condition. Even then, I was facing thoughts which could be summed up as:
"How can I know which is the safe path though this? How can I know the long term consequences of the choices I make, in advance. Who can tell me?"
I could not know. Then, I remembered the principle of applying Scripture to every aspect of life and included all medical decisions. I reckoned that if Jesus created and healed people, He is the Great Physician. He must know exactly what was going wrong in my body. So I prayed about
- which doctor I should consult;
- which treatment I should take; and
- how to treat the consequences of the treatment I underwent.
In other words, I prayed for divine medical guidance. The guidance that I was given turned out to be perfect. No hiccups. I got better, over time. There was even one very strange, astonishing answer to prayer.
I was having medical treatment (a course of desensitisation treatments in Harley Street) which was badly affecting my brain. It was on overfiring and the feeling was totally unendurable. I did not know if I would come through it. Had the treatment unbalanced all my neurons? I was trying to work (I could not afford not to work) sitting alone for days with a word processor that I could barely operate, due to cognitive fatigue and weakness that I had to disguise, in a vast empty room, in Whitehall. Suddenly, I thought "I cannot carry on". Who could I turn to? So I prayed for help and guidance. Immediately, I felt the words "Drink claret" drop into my thoughts. How come? "I don't know what claret means" I thought. So I looked it up: red wine, from the Bordeaux region.
I believed I could not drink any alcohol, but I obeyed. I went into an off licence on the way home and bought a whole carton of Bordeaux and started drinking it - two glasses on the first evening. Lo and behold, my brain calmed down within minutes (NB this story is not an encouragement to drink unlimited amounts of claret!). God knew what was going wrong and He had an astonishing answer. Amazingly, red wine is part of Holy Communion: "This is my blood given for you"...
We are led by people who have no faith in God - as far as one can see. So who do they turn to on questions which are beyond their ability, understanding and knowledge? Answers can be novel but if Almighty God knows how we are made (and it is complex) who better to lean upon? We need to apply the same principle to all personal medical matters and treatments - and to everything in life.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding" Proverbs 3.5 tells us.
Pray about it. 'Drink claret' may even be your answer.
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