Psalm 46:1-3 “God, you’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge! You’re a proven help in times of trouble— more than enough and always available whenever I need you. So we will never fear even if every structure of support were to crumble away. We will not fear even when the earth quakes and shakes, moving mountains and casting them into the sea. For the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing waves cannot erode our faith in you. Pause in his presence.” Today's episode shows us that God is our refuge. It breaks down this verse and goes into a bit more detail, explaining God will always be there for us. It talks about how nothing is too big or too small for us to bring to God. Then it talks about what it means to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
God Is Our Refuge
Psalm 46:1-3 “God, you’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge! You’re a proven help in times of trouble— more than enough and always available whenever I need you. So we will never fear even if every structure of support were to crumble away. We will not fear even when the earth quakes and shakes, moving mountains and casting them into the sea. For the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing waves cannot erode our faith in you. Pause in his presence.”
Today we are praying for those with mental health challenges. This covers a wide range of things. It seems mental health challenges are everywhere these days. The world can be a pretty scary place at times. However, in these last few years, I would say it has gotten particularly scary. Most people were pretty anxious during the 2020 pandemic. Everything was so uncertain, and the news was not very helpful. I am not generally an anxious person. However, when I would watch the news during the first few months of the pandemic I could definitely see why so many people were so anxious. I do believe the news was at one time meant to inform the citizens of what was going on in the world. Now, it seems like its sole purpose is to appeal to people’s emotions in whatever way necessary. How else do you explain two competing news channels giving the complete opposite news?
The key to us staying sane in this crazy world is to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Whenever I see that, I am reminded of the scene in Matthew 14:22-33, which was depicted in the series The Chosen, where Peter steps out of the boat to walk on the water to Jesus. Peter is doing great and actually walking on the water while he is looking right at Jesus. However, as soon as he turns away, as soon as He looks at all the chaos around him, he starts to sink, and Jesus reaches out and saves him. It is when we take our eyes off Jesus that things start to go awry.
The first line of the verse states, “God, you’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge!” God is our refuge. We can always turn to Him, no matter what we are going through. Even if it is something you think He would be disappointed in you for doing. Turn to Him. It says in the Bible that God will rejoice more in heaven over the one sinner who repents than the 99 righteous who don’t need to repent. We will worry less when we realize that we don’t have to be perfect to go to God. We can go to Him always, no matter what we have done.
Thinking we have to be perfect to come to God is something the enemy wants you to think. He wants you to think you aren’t good enough to talk to God because He knows how powerful you will be when you turn to God and allow Him to help you. Jesus didn’t wait for us to stop sinning and be perfect to die on the cross for us. He died on a cross for us while we were still sinners. No matter what you are feeling or thinking, you can bring it to God. He is our refuge. There will never be a time here on earth where you can go to the Father and ask Him for help. He loves when His children come to Him and ask for help.
The next line says, “You’re a proven help in times of trouble— more than enough and always available whenever I need you.” This reaffirms what I just said, God is available whenever you need Him. It also says you are a proven help in times of trouble. If you look back over your life, I bet you will be able to see this statement is true. Can you look back over your life and see all the ways God has helped in the past? Can you see that He has proven time and time again that He is a great help in times of trouble? When you call upon Him, He will be there.
I like how the verse specifies that God is more than enough. Sometimes I think we forget this. We don’t bring things to Him because we think they are either too big, and we can’t see how he would make it happen, or they are too small, and we don’t want to bother Him with it. Neither of these is true. Nothing is too big or too small for God. God wants us to bring everything to Him. He can make a way where there is no way. He is the God of the impossible. He also cares about all the little details of your life, so nothing is too small for Him.
The verse goes on to say, “So we will never fear even if every structure of support were to crumble away. We will not fear even when the earth quakes and shakes, moving mountains and casting them into the sea. For the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing waves cannot erode our faith in you.” This shows how deep our trust can go when we have our eyes fixed on Jesus. When it feels like every structure of support is falling away, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, and he will be your refuge. When it feels like you are in the storm of a lifetime, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.
It occurred to me that saying to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus might not be that helpful. What does that even mean? To me that means keep looking to Him for help. When you are feeling lost, read the Bible. Ask the Lord a question, and then you can open the Bible and read whatever you find. Another way would be to sit and talk with God. You can even yell and scream if you want to. I think sometimes we think we have to always be on our best behavior with God. We don’t. He can handle our anger and our yelling. He knows what we are going through. He knows what we are thinking even before we say it. Although I think He likes it when we say it because we are being honest with Him and trusting Him with what we are feeling.
Jesus got angry when He was in the temple, and they were using it to sell stuff and other things. He got angry, flipped over tables, and yelled at them. He wasn’t yelling at God, but I think God understands when we need to let off some steam. Isn’t yelling at God better than yelling at family or friends? At least we know God can handle it. Another great thing to do when all seems like it is falling apart is to listen to praise and worship music. There are so many songs out there reminding us of all that God does for us. There are so many people who have seen God turn things around, and they have written great songs about it to encourage us and remind us that God will be there for us, too. If He was there for them, He will be there for you!
The very last thing this verse says is, “Pause in his presence.” This is so important, especially in a hard time. Sometimes we just need to pause in his presence. In the quiet is when God enters in and heals us. If we are keeping so busy that we don’t think about our troubles, then we aren’t giving God any time to come in and heal us. Something I am just learning is that we don’t always have to be doing something when we are spending time with the Lord. He likes it when we invite Him into the quiet as well. He likes it when we sit there with Him and let Him do His thing. What if we each just spent 5 minutes in quiet with the Lord today?
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, there are so many people anxious and worried these days. Please help us. There are so many who are struggling with mental health challenges, and we ask you to be our refuge. Lord, help all the suffering see that they can rely on you. Help them to see you and that you love them. Help them to feel your presence so they know that you are not alone. Help us to trust you and rely on you, Lord. Help us to come to you. We love you, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name. Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I hope everyone is staying warm and safe wherever they are listening. We are supposed to get more snow today. Schools and workplaces were canceled last night in anticipation of the story. It just started snowing now. I am hoping it is not too bad out but I do like the snow. Tonight is mentoring, so if you would like to join, CLICK HERE or go to my website, walkboldlywithjesus.com. You can also send me a message on social media if you would like to check it out before officially joining. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!
Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Look, my children, look. See with My eyes. See the world around you. See those that I love who are living in a way that is not what I have come to deliver to them. Pray for them. Pray for them. Pray for them continually. I have placed in each of my beloved people all of my creation, a mark that is truly connected to me. They need to have that mark stimulated, excited, and brought forth. In some of them, it's like a dying ember. I need you with the gift of the spirit to breathe on that. To breathe new life on that, that the ember will not go out that the ember will become a flame. I need you to see my people in a way you have never seen before, and I alone can give you those eyes to see. I alone will give you a heart to feel. I alone will give you the grace that your Will will say yes because you will feel my love for them.”