When Life is Hard – Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.   

Psalm 46:1-3

 

I kind of like those “Life is Good” shirts and mugs.  I have a couple of them even.  It is a nice thought…maybe there is a little philosophy there to approach life in a positive manner.  But, to be truthful, life is not always good.  Sometimes it is hard… sometimes too hard for us to bear.   When it feels like the world around us is giving way and the mountains are falling in and the waters are roaring and foaming can we really just say “Life is Good” and go on our merry way?  I’ve never found that to be so easy.

 

Perhaps when those bad times come we need to say “God is Good”, or maybe even “Life is God”.  There is only one place I feel safe going when “Life is Hard”, and that is to go find shelter in the Lord.  This is really where “Life is Good”.  This is where the river flows whose streams make glad the city of our God. This is where God is our fortress and we are safe.  In His presence we gain a proper perspective on life and our troubles begin to shrink and perhaps even melt away under His mighty work. 

 

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. 

Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.

Psalm 46:4-9

 

Nothing compares to God’s great love for us.  Unfortunately we struggle and strive and worry and become fearful when something goes wrong.  Our minds race and our hearts beat rapidly.  Are we trying to fix things ourselves and then find that we cannot?  Is that what gives us most of our trouble?  I wonder.  After perhaps too many years of dealing with troubles in varying degrees along those lines, I am coming to find and live a new way.  The way of silence and stillness before God.  The way of being quiet enough to know God.  When the myriad of earthly troubles hits me I come into (sometimes run into) the shelter of God.  I have to confess my fears and learn to wait and listen.  Only when I stop the noise of my own striving can I hear His voice speak His love for me.

 

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46:10-11

 

I have not arrived yet where I want to be in this.  I still struggle with the difficulties of life but I know my hiding place when life is hard.  As David confesses in Psalm 32:7, “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” 

 

Its time again to be still and listen.  The Lord has a song of deliverance He wants to sing to you.

 

Scott for Wellspring © Copyright 2008

I waited and waited and waited for the Lord

Over the last few weeks I have spent a lot of time reading, praying, and simply reflecting on the words in the book of Psalms.  It has been a rich and strengthening experience to borrow the words of David and others who penned these great prayers.  I have found myself coming back often throughout the day to some of the simple truths and expressions found there.  One of the very obvious themes that rises up out of this book is that of waiting.  If you spend anytime at all in the Psalms you will get the sense that waiting is important.

“In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation”  Psalm 5:3b

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord”  Psalm 27:14

“We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield”  Psalm 33:20

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him”  Psalm 37:7

In the “Message” Psalm 40 begins this way:

“I waited and waited and waited for God.  At last he looked; finally he listened.”

Do you ever wonder what God is waiting for?   What’s taking so long?  Why doesn’t He just get on with things?  We’re ready isn’t he?  I wonder if maybe we aren’t as ready as we think we are.  Maybe God has a purpose in our waiting that we often don’t appreciate.  Could it be that there is something he wants us to learn in our relationship with him that can only be learned through times of waiting?

You have probably heard the phrase “God is more concerned with our character than our comfort”.  Don’t you hate that phrase.  I don’t know about you, but when I am in a difficult or confusing time in life, I would prefer that God kick in and take care of things…………now!  He usually doesn’t though.  I usually have to wait.  I think that’s what he wants.  The waiting he wants from me is not to be some idle, aimless, waiting around.  Our waiting should be full of trusting contentment knowing that our circumstances are well taken care of.  Our waiting should be full of hopeful expectation.  Our waiting should reflect the fact that we care more about being with God than about having our lives go smoothly. 

Perhaps God’s purpose in making me wait is to bring me to a place where knowing him and him only is my greatest concern and passion, where everything else fades into the background of my mind and heart.  At that point, maybe I’ll even forget what I was waiting for in the first place.

Dave for Wellspring © 2008