Us and nature
Eating beefburgers - at least British ones - has seemed like a bit of an uncertain business in recent months, and people in the rest of Europe are even more wary than most of us about it. Can we be absolutely sure it's safe to eat British beef at all, or at least the bits of the animal that go into burgers and sausages? The answer, however it is dressed up, is 'No'.
But then was it ever totally safe to eat beef, even from other countries? Or pork, or chicken, or soya beans, or apples for that matter? Or to breathe air? Hardly a month goes by when we are not told that something or other we have been eating, drinking or doing for years could endanger someone's health! We all like certainty about safety, but does such a thing exist in this world? And even if we got a totally pure environment in terms of what we eat, drink and breathe, are we going to live until we're 1000 or even 200? If Ray Davies of 'The Kinks' managed to sail away to a distant shore and live like an ape man, he may not die in a nuclear war, but he wouldn't live for ever.
If we are all on our own as part of 'nature' and what is in charge is 'evolution', then this is scary stuff. Of course we will cling on to clean air and totally safe beef if we can get it; we'll cling on as for very life. But actually - what a relief! - we are told by God in the Bible that he is in charge (Psalm 93). Nature and evolution are not in charge, but the Lord who made the world reigns. We may wonder in that case why certain tragic events are allowed to happen (and there are answers in the Bible to that question too), but there is no doubt that at the end of the day we are not at the mercy of mere events or nature, or even other people, but we are in the hands of the almighty, personal God.
So there is something we can trust in for sure, 100%, in fact someone: not the cows or the government or the scientists, but the living God. Truly happy is the person whose hope is in the Lord his God, the one who made heaven and earth (Psalm 146:5-6). We can even know him personally through his Son, Jesus Christ, and live for ever, never mind 1000 years!