For some long time now we have been told a crisis was coming to Cyprus, and suddenly it has hit. What can God show us about this situation? How do we begin to understand what is going on and start to respond?

Our natural instinctive reactions are anger and fear. So we may find ourselves looking for someone to blame, someone to whom we can direct our anger. Not surprisingly we shall find people around us with exactly these reactions. We need to be able to offer more. Our opinions on politics, economics and the rest are not what I mean by the something more we need to offer however fascinating we may happen to find our own views!

We want to run our personal and national finances without reference to God, and then for God to take the blame or to send magical solutions when things go wrong. The alternative is to seek God for ourselves and for the nation of Cyprus. We are called to pray for the leaders of this nation and all the nations, and the institutions that exercise power. We need to pray for personal guidance on how to deal with our own responsibilities.

Curiously the most encouraging words I have heard come not from nations that seem more secure, but from a Church leader in Egypt, where judging by the secular news, one might expect to hear of desperation. His descriptions and analysis acknowledge that human systems are failing to deliver the basic freedoms and securities that people are longing for. Yet he sees more people turning to the one true God in whom alone we can trust. Nominal Christians are turning to a living faith; Christians are responding to the urgent need of prayer; Christians who have hidden their faith in private are willing to express their faith in public; Christians who have lived in disunity are expressing their love for brothers and sisters in Christ.

There is a Christian proverb abroad. Please note that proverbs can be a blunt instrument of truth; we need to be careful where, when and how we express them, but they can be vehicles of truth, as evidenced in the Bible itself. The current proverb I refer to says: “ We do not know what the future holds, but we do know Who holds the future.”

How can we be inspired through critical times in Cyprus to imitate the response of our brothers and sisters in Egypt and elsewhere?

Know afresh that it is in God alone we can safely put our trust.

Derek