An Ever-present Help
I've been doing a study in the Psalms this year. This week, I hit Psalm 46. What a gift to hit this Psalm with all that is going on with COVID-19! Let me give you a few verses: "God is our refuge and our 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, through its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." [Ps. 46:1-3]
That is so amazing! God isn't just hanging around watching...He is "ever-present!" AND and He is our helper, in our time of need. If our nation has ever had a time of need, it is now. Still, there are amazing things going on. People are being a little kinder, the air seems a little cleaner, neighbors are watching out for each other. BUT, people need the Lord. And when things return to normal, that won't be any different than it is now.
Psalm 46 also includes the well-known passage "Be still, and know that I am God." [v.10] It is during these times of mayhem and noise, crisis and fear, uncertainty and futility that it is MOST important that we take the time to "lean in" to God. To know, not just in our head...but by experiencing Him, that He is our ever-present help. Nothing that happens on the earth takes God off guard. While I don't pretend to know all the reasons why these things happen, I do know that God can use ANYTHING redemptively, to bring His beloved creation closer to Himself.
-Lance