Corona Devo 712

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. ~Psalm 46:1

Need refuge and strength? Yes.

Times of trouble? Yes.

God is our go to. He is always ready to help.

When the problems and pressures of the world have encased us in an icy prison, God reminds us that His voice thunders, and the earth melts! (Psalm 46:6).

So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. ~Psalm 46:2

Yes, He knows that earthquakes come and strike our foundations, and that our mountains made of people, positions, and dreams that have been a part our lives for a long time will crumble into the sea.

But God says, "Let them."

Let the oceans roar and foam.  Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! ~Psalm 46:3

God is not shaken when we are, and His warmth melts the ice in our lives. We might be in a snowstorm, but He sees the rainbow behind the heavy clouds. He made both, and God's got joy to bring to every heart that He dwells in.

Does God dwell in your "city"? Then (Listen up!): it cannot be destroyed.  From the very break of day, God will protect it.

If your day is breaking right now, feel God's rainbow promise of joy protecting you.

A river brings joy to the city of our God, the sacred home of the Most High.

(5) God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed.  From the very break of day, God will protect it.

(6) The nations are in chaos, and their kingdoms crumble!  God’s voice thunders, and the earth melts!

(7) The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.  ~Psalm 46:4-7

Look around, these Scriptures ring true of the world. The nations are in chaos, and their kingdoms (are) crumbling! But we are not in chaos. Fight it in your soul because God speaks a different Truth into us. God’s voice thunders, and the earth melts!

May He melt the chaos and crumbling that threatens our peace today. Remember, be strengthened and latch onto the One who is here among us. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. (Psalm 46:7).

Believe in the Lord of Heaven’s Armies and we will see Him.  Believe in the chaos and crumbling and we will continue to see/experience/fear/be exhausted by it.

We must be counter-cultural and change our focus.  

Come, see the glorious works of the Lord... ~Psalm 46:8

And, we must be still.

“Be still, and know that I am God!... 

(11) The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.  ~Psalm 46:10-11

I feel like I've (physically) lived this in the past few days, but you and I have also emotionally/spiritually/mentally lived-it-out too.

Encased in snow and ice, our family drove out of town the other night in sleet, snow and ice-covered roads. A thick layer of ice formed on our car antenna and antenna-topper as we drove. It was slippery and scary and a bit out of control.

I realized that's a perfect description of my life (slippery, scary and a bit out of control) when I get too caught up in everything "else", instead of Jesus.  It's like a sheath of ice encapsulates my thinking/schedule/heart, and an invisible wall forms between me and God.  He's on the outside, while I am frozen on the inside. 

But we serve an amazing God that protects us and pursues us.  (God’s voice thunders, and the earth melts! ~Psalm 46:6). He melts the icy walls that we form/or that "life" forms around us with His love, and His plan for us is not the slippery and dangerous roads.   

God's got a river (that) brings joy to the city of our God...and God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed.  From the very break of day, God will protect it. (Psalm 46:4-6).

We are that city, and our good God protects us.

As our family gained more and more miles, the snow and ice relented. Then the temperatures began to rise and the piles of snow fell. Some might say that was because we were heading south, but I say it's because we were taking a moment to step away from our "nations...in chaos" and our daily "kingdoms that crumble". The space melted the ice that had formed in my mind and my heart, and freed me up to be still.

“Be still, and know that I am God!"  ~Psalm 46:10

I know that He is God, even in the earthquakes, crumbling mountains, roaring oceans and trembling mountains of my day to day life, but as the ice melted from our car antenna, it defrosted a fresh appreciation in my soul for knowing God in the stillness.

And it felt warm, promising, and awe-inspiring...sort of like the feeling you get when you see a rainbow. And then I saw one, when I looked up in the middle of one of the games we had driven south to play.

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us...Come, see the glorious works of the Lord... ~Psalm 46:7-8

~~~~~

We may feel distant from God, like a layer of ice has formed between the two of us.  But God's desire is to melt that icy separation with His love, His Creation, His Word, and His plans for us.  

God is not shaken when we are, and His warmth melts the ice in our lives. We might be in a snowstorm, but He sees the rainbow behind the heavy clouds.

Today, "Be still" so that we might know that He is God.

Blessings,

Sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com