The NHS received a birthday promise from the Prime Minister this week of an additional £20 billion, to coincide with money released after Brexit, topped up by extra tax. This is to bring some relief to the pressure that the NHS is under.

The Real Problems

70 years ago, surely it was the leading of God to bring a national system into being that promised the best of healthcare 'from cradle to grave' for all the people of our country – helping to instil hope for the rebuilding of a better nation after the devastation of war.

Who could have foreseen the breakdown of our society only one generation later, bringing unbearable pressures on this health service? This week, coincident with the announcement of extra funding, we hear that there is now a new sickness for the NHS to treat resulting from children becoming obsessed with computer games. Will extra money really solve our problems?

The breakdown of family life and the denial of even the existence of God, who has helped us in times past, will not be solved through cash injection into the NHS alone. Some Christian medical professionals have even lost their jobs through offering prayer to patients or trying to point them to God.

Learning to Seek the Lord

We Christians often find it difficult to balance our expectations of God’s help in times of trouble. Should we be able to cope through prayer alone, or through visits to the GP? How much should we seek help from our local medical teams, seeing them as part of God’s provision?

I have an interesting anecdote from the time when the NHS was in its infancy, to illustrate this balance of prayer and practical helps. At a Bible College with which I am familiar, two students went to the Director at the same time, with the same medical complaint. He paused in prayer before guiding them. One he sent to the GP and the other he sent to her room to pray.

So here is a thought to take us prayerfully through the week as we continue to hear deliberations from the Government and the media as to how best to prop up the funding of the NHS: What is God saying to us about sickness in our nation and how we might return to full health, not just individually but also nationally? This sickness that besets us is both physical and spiritual.

Author: Clifford Denton