Oh God, replace our fear with faith!
Psalm 46:4-7
1 There is a river
whose streams make glad the city of God
the holy habitation
of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst
of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when
morning dawns.
6 The nations rage,
the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice,
the earth melts.
7 The Lord of
hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our
fortress.
Selah
The Psalmist begins to
describe the comfort and peace of living the presence and care of God. The
waters of the presence of God are streams that bring joy compared to the waters
of verse three that were overwhelming.
The city of God
Why do we, so quickly,
loose sight of God when trouble comes? Do you remember when the storm came and
Jesus was with the disciples?
Mark 4:35-41
On that day, when evening
had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other
side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat,
just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great
windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the
boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the
cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we
are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to
the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a
great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid?
Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and
said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea
obey him?”
Did you notice that is was
Jesus Who asked the disciple to go on the boat? Did He know that there would be
a storm? Did He know that it would have become dangerous? Was He surprised by
their reactions?
The apostles had been with
Jesus, they had already watched Him perform miracles. When they asked Jesus if
He cared they probably doubted His interest in them more than His ability to
help them. And even His help was probably viewed more in human terms than in the
miraculous.
All it took was a word by
Jesus and the storm calmed down. At God’s word men were resurrected, people
were healed. Jesus’ response exposes the problem, they had no faith. Their time
with Jesus had not increased their trust in Him.
We tend to ask the same
absurd question the disciples asked. The absurdity of the question is why we would
question that God brought us in the boat to die when we know that He died to
bring us in His care. When God looks at our reaction does he ask us why we have
such little faith? How quickly our mind takes us in the wrong direction and how
quickly we are enveloped by fear. Oh God, replace our fear with faith! We need
God to cause us to be heavenly minded.
The psalmist reminded the
Israelites that God was with them! God is with us! He goes before us in every
circumstance; there are eternal purposes in every event He permits.
His love for us culminated
in the death of His precious Son. He can change our circumstances with one
word, if He chooses not to; it means that it is more profitable for us to go
through the trial. In some ways, as long as we rebel, the trial has not
produced the desired effect. As I look back at very difficult times in my life,
times I thought I was a victim (and way too often acted like one), they were
precious. I know my heart and I know that there will be more difficulties; my
natural response will be to think I don’t deserve them or that I have suffered
enough. My hope is that my times of rebellion will become shorter and shorter.
That my desire to be like Christ will overpower my desire for comfort; that my
desire for sanctification will overpower my natural desire to please my flesh.
We are in the boat with
Christ! That should keep us grateful and rejoicing every day!
This psalm has been
inspired by God to help us think right in the midst of our trials. May we
repent quickly when we rebel and find the peace that God intended for us all
along! How will you apply this truth to your life today?
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