'Faith is a gift that offers us all hope in the darkest of times'

A student gets their results on A-Level results day. Photo by Chris Etchells

Failing to notice the end of the cliff, he fell but grabbed on to a branch. Dangling over a precipice, he shouted.

“God if you are there, save me”. A voice came from Heaven, “I am here, let go of the branch and I will save you”.

The man thought for a moment and then shouted out again, “Is there anybody else there”!

Faith may feel like a leap in the dark, a last resort - even a foolish consideration.

If we look at the news, we can see that we are living through bleak times.

The obvious pandemic has heaped upon us bereavement, isolation, people losing jobs and recession.

Now our student’s hopes are crushed because of GCSE and A- level predictions.

The mental well-being issues are immense.

On top of all that we observe global catastrophe like the horrifying Beirut explosion.

Do we relate to that man dangling over a precipice crying out for help?

Can faith help us?

Well, I would say yes.

Faith is a gift from God which offers us hope in the darkest of times.

The bible story about Jesus’s disciples in a boat who see Jesus walking on the water.

Peter from the boat accepts the invitation to step out onto the water to come to Jesus.

When he keeps his eyes on him, he is okay.

However as soon as he looks around at the elements, he begins to sink.

Jesus holds him up.

Some would say that it was Peter’s fault that he started to sink because he didn’t have enough faith.

But I would suggest that Peter would never have sunk because Jesus, the Son of God, never took his eyes off him and he never would have taken his eyes off him.

No matter how hostile the elements around Peter would have become, Jesus was always there.

Faith is a gift from God and it will hold you up through the bleakest of times.

Why not ask God to give you faith today?

• Rev Jonathan Haigh is the minister at Victoria Hall and Greenhill Methodist Church. Visit www.greenhillmethodistchurch.com.