I Freak Out! HE Just Handles It - POWERFULLY!

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He makes wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burns the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. - King Hezekiah, Psalm 46:1-11

The backdrop of Hezekiah's writing was the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians. Hezekiah was King but only over part of Israel, the Southern Kingdom. It was a time of great social and political stress and strife. The nation of Israel itself was doing "better." After years of following false gods or practicing a form of nationalistic agnosticism Hezekiah, at least in part, have brought revival to the land. 

However, the Assyrians, having conquered and dispersed so many other lands and peoples had set their eyes on Israel and more specifically Jerusalem. The Assyrians were a larger army. They had superior weaponry. They had strategic strength and swagger. Well, you can get more great information on this in Isaiah chapters 36 and 37. It is a powerful story. In part and lesson one is that half the battle against any enemy is standing in the confidence of your God, His word to you, His testimony in and through you and His strength; and do so in silence. 

The outcome of these battles and the pursuing Song of Victory that Hezekiah wrote and sung in Psalm 46 gives us great insight into how we handle the problem of stress.

But, let me give you three additional practical thoughts regarding this matter of God's strength through stress, as found in Psalm 46.

First, the personal emotional and spiritual strength God provides to us is immediately available. Our God is ...very present... We must know that our trials are not superficial or irrelevant to God. But they themselves are often not the issue. They are vehicles of grace that God uses to bring us growth and from them comes forth from His people supernatural and massive power and vision. 

We need to learn to see our lives from God's perspective. Superficial problems call for superficial solutions. But most of us live in a very real world. Real life isn't superficial is it? No, real life is headaches and stresses that go deeper than the right top with the right pants and whether a certain color of beige will destroy our family life as we know it should we cover the family room in its utter grossness. 

The stresses of life go right down to the bone. They touch the nerve areas of our security. But God says He is a present help in trouble. He is immediately available. Do you realize that wherever you go, whatever life situation you find yourself in and whatever the time of day, week, month, year, decade it is, you can call and He will answer? He's a very present and immediate help. Along with this is something sobering. If you are not experiencing that question self first, not God. 

We ask the wrong question and we asked it way too often. I have been the worst offender. The wrong question? "God, why is this happening to me?" It is the tone and not the question that is the problem. For me, when I am stressed, the way I ask it is accusatory. I am blaming God for having a blind spot. He certainly must not have seen what was about to come my way. Perhaps He was on break or vacation or worse. If you and I are asking God, "Lord, why me?" It better be because we want to best understand how He plans on using us and to give us HIS vision for what everyone else would deem a major catastrophe in our lives. 

A better "next step" is to fall more deeply in love with Him because daily, you are having a fresh revelation of His love for you! When we start to truly "get" the depth of His love that question will be obliterated from our thinking for we will know He is always in control and nothing has escaped Him at all, least of all our life.

The second thing I observe about God's power in this psalm is that it is overwhelmingly powerful! It's a shelter that can stretch over any stress - in fact God's power is custom made for the stress that you are going through; the army that has come against you is just the stress, the battle that He will either prepare you to fight or that one He will fight on your behalf! 

Of course, the end of the story regarding Israel and Assyria was the triumph of God's people. You could have called it couldn't you? But if you have ever experienced a David whooping a Goliath or a mother lifting a car off of her baby or a people of God crying out for a blessed miracle that would honor their God and King and having it come forth then you begin to understand God's power. 

Furthermore (and number three), His power is not dependent on our help. 

If you are any type of New Testament believer in Jesus you should have already embraced our part and God's part. Our part is to realize He made us, loves us and plans on delivering us. HIS part is to do just that because only He can do it! We're weak, remember? Can we save ourselves into eternity? No. Have you had your walls of fortification pummeled lately? Probably. Have you felt any weakness? I have. The Holy Spirit would say to you, "Child, it's time you say, 'Lord, I love You. Through Your strength I will stand fast and firm! You and I, together, we are enough. Because of your great love Father God I will not fear. I hold on to You. I will count on You to build that shelter, those walls and gates and buttresses and most of all realize the foundation of Your Son Jesus, all of this,  around me and protect me from the darts, arrows, bullets and bazooka's of the enemy.'"

God says, "Cease striving, and know that I am God. Cease lamenting and know your victory is at hand because your deliverer is standing by!"

You and I WE remain...

InHISgrip,

  ~J~