As we approach yet another Remembrance Day, I have been reminded that war can do more than damage our physical and mental health, it can have a destructive impact on our faith too.

Wilfred Owen’s poetry is proof of that.

However, the very opposite can also be true as we can see when we turn to Psalm 46. where the author tells us that God is always there to help us when in trouble.

Psalm 46 was obviously written following a time of national deliverance Many scholars seem to think that it could well have been written after the overthrow of Sennacherib’s army in 701BC when the Assyrian king had invaded Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem. It was a desperate situation so much so that Sennacherib’s Annals describe how King Hezekiah of Judah had been trapped "like a caged bird"

Instead of surrendering though, Hezekiah asked God for help and according to the biblical account, an ‘angel of the Lord’ struck down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night. When the surviving Assyrians awoke, and saw the devastating loss, Sennacherib was forced to withdraw his army and return to his own city. If this is an accurate account of what took place, it is obvious that the Psalmist had caught a glimpse of what God can do and he wanted everyone to know it.

We should never forget that people in the UK took prayer seriously during the Second World War too, and God answered their prayers in some very remarkable ways. Thankfully there are those who have provided us with a record, and if you want to know more then you should get hold of a copy of David Gardner’s ‘The Trumpet Sounds for Britain’ or ‘God & Churchill’ written by Wallace Henley and Winston Churchill’s great-grandson Jonathan Sandys.

Sandys clearly believes God can help us as we can see from this comment. “It’s my sincere hope that people view ‘God & Churchill’ as evidence that God is not some age-old concept that was created as a crutch or method of manipulation for mankind, but that He is present with us even today and if we are willing to humble ourselves before Him, He will be faithful to us and not abandon us. Further to this, it’s my hope that ‘God & Churchill’ will inspire others to lead as Churchill did, in faith, and will renew the hope lost in this present age.”

The Biblical story is no fairy tale and God is no figment of our imagination or even a relic of the past. He is the living God who can help us as individuals and is in control of history. That’s why we do well to heed the Psalmist’s advice to ‘Be still’ and reflect on what He is able to do. Interestingly the Hebrew could be translated as ‘relax’ so why not do that today? Put your feet up and remember that He is the God of miracles.