God our refuge

One of the themes of Psalm 46 is that God is our refuge. He doesn't insulate us from problems; we are not immune from troubles. We've discussed that before. The abundant life is not guaranteed to be trouble-free! I guess one reason why I feel like we need to keep saying this is 1. the Bible tells us multiple times, so it's important, and 2. many false teachers today claim it is His will for every person to enjoy wealth and perfect health.

Their teaching is that since Jesus has promised to answer our prayers of faith, it must then be true that the only thing standing between us and lots of money is our lack of faith. According to them, it's a lack of faith that is the reason for our illnesses. Confess it by faith, they say, and whatever you ask is yours.

But the Bible teaches no such thing. In fact, when we study our Bible, we can see that they are teaching heresy.

The Bible says that God is our help in trouble -- not that we are exempt from trouble! In fact, Psalm 46 mentions some "big time" troubles like global changes, earthquakes, storms, and wars. In our New Testament, we see that faithful believers have had to face terrible trials:

There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. (Hebrews 11:35b-38)

God doesn't exempt Christians from this sort of thing. If a plane goes down, He doesn't make certain there are no believers onboard. When war ravages a country, He doesn't whisk the Christians out first. God doesn't allow cancer to only afflict the unbelieving sinner. Trouble will strike the godly as well as the ungodly. We know that. The question is, when that happens, do you want to face it with God as your refuge and strength or do you hope to find help elsewhere?

Our psalm shows us that God is sufficient to get us through.

The first three verses speak of a God Who is our refuge against the raging of the natural world.

God is our refuge and strength,
A very ready help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth shakes
And the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
3 Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah

The psalmist pictures an earthquake so severe that the mountains slide into the sea. He's telling us that in the biggest and worst disaster that we can imagine, God is sufficient as our refuge and strength -- we need not be afraid.

With Him as our refuge, we can find relief and comfort. As our strength, we discover that His strength is made perfect in our weakness as we trust in Him:

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. (II Corinthians 12:9)

The psalmist also tells us that God is immediately available to us. No waiting. No wondering. He is a "very present help" the instant that we turn to Him.  He might delay delivering us, but He never leaves us alone. We might realize why deliverance is delayed, or it might be a mystery to us. but we can always have immediate comfort and peace when we flee to him for refuge.

Whatever catastrophe we are facing; if it's a major health problem, the death of a dear loved one, the loss of our job, emotional issues, relational conflicts, or any other trouble -- God is bigger than our problems. He is readily available to help. We need only to trust in Him.

So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)