Someone to Help

Psalm 46:1-3 | June 7, 2020

Have you ever heard a song that didn’t sound right?

I’m not talking about mishearing lyrics, but a song that just doesn’t sound right. 

Over the last 11 days my parents became great-grandparents for the first time twice – my niece and her husband and my nephew and his wife both had babies.

That makes me a great uncle – which really is nothing new.

Maybe through a playlist or some type of crib accessory that plays music or maybe the crooning of their grandparents, it is possible that Wells and Warner may have already heard the words of “Rock-a-bye Baby” which goes like this…

Song

Rock-a-bye, baby, in the treetop

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock

When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall

And down will come baby, cradle and all

As one baby said after hearing that song…

“How can I go to sleep after hearing that?”

A song about a baby’s cradle crashing to the ground from a tree just doesn’t sound right.

There are a lot of things that don’t sound right.

The cradle, so to speak, of our society, has been rocked and broken and, in a sense, has fallen to the ground.

So, what do we do?

What are we supposed to do when we feel like the world is crashing in around us?

There is some ancient advice that hasn’t lost an ounce of punch.

In fact, over the course of the last 3,000 years people in the Middle East and people in the middle of Africa and people in the middle of Asia and people in the middle of the Outback and people in the middle of New York City and people in the middle of your neighborhood have been building their entire lives on this advice. 

And when the world comes crashing in around them, they keep turning to it over and over and over again.

And this advice has guided generation after generation after generation of people – red and yellow and black and white – and helped them pull the scattered pieces of their minds back together so that they can do the next right thing.

So, what is this ancient advice that is spilling over with truth and power and help and hope for today?

Let’s find out. 

Listen to Psalm 46, beginning with verse 1:

1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

One day Jesus was sailing with his disciples in a boat.

He’s in a boat with his closest friends and some of those guys were professional, commercial fisherman and as they were sailing along Jesus was taking a nap – he was asleep.

And a terrible storm moved in and the boat was being rocked and waves were crashing over and into the boat.

And Jesus didn’t wake up – his disciples had to wake him up.

And when he woke up, what was the first thing he said?

He wiped his eyes and he asked them this question:

“Why are you guys afraid?”

Remember, we have some professional fishermen on the boat – this wasn’t the first storm they had been in. 

We also have the disciples of Jesus in this boat – they weren’t brand new church members. 

They had seen and heard Jesus in action – amazing, miraculous, unexplainable action.

In one sense, they have every reason to be afraid and in another sense, they have every reason not to be afraid because Jesus – the Jesus – was with them.

So, he asks them why they are afraid.

He is not mad at them – he’s just asking a simple, straightforward question:

“Why are you afraid?”

So, let me pull us into this boat for a moment and expand on this question from Jesus. 

Right now, in the middle of the storms of our nation and the world, the attitudes of most people are primarily functioning in one of three categories:

• They are afraid
• They are angry
• They are apathetic

Now, you might be floating between two of those are all three of those, but one of those categories has a little more power in your mind right now. 

So, take just a second and diagnose yourself and choose which one is stronger.

Now, ask yourself the question that applies best to you.

• Why are you afraid?
• Why are you angry?
• Why are you apathetic?

Okay, now listen to the second part the question that Jesus asked in the middle of that storm:

“Where is your faith?”

That’s the real question.

• Why are you afraid? Where’s your faith?
• Why are you angry? Where’s your faith?
• Why are you apathetic? Where’s your faith?

Both questions are needed. 

And we aren’t talking about smiley perfection here. 

There is a place for fear and there is a place for anger.

• You can have faith and be afraid
• You can have faith and be angry

Can you have faith and be apathetic?

It can be very dangerous to be unwisely dogmatic but, at the very least, it seems it would be extremely difficult to have saving faith and be unapologetically apathetic towards justice and mercy.

And it seems it would be extremely difficult to have saving faith and be unapologetically apathetic – to not care about – humility and walking humbly with God and loving your neighbor in the same way you love yourself.

And it seems it would be extremely difficult to have saving faith and be unapologetically apathetic – to not care about – having unrighteous fear or unrighteous anger.

What is unrighteous fear or unrighteous anger?

The kind of fear or anger that is driven by being sinful or irrational or unreasonable or self-centered instead of being guided by some aspect of God’s character and God’s truth.

So, take some time today or tonight to diagnose your fear or your anger.

Are you being driven by sin or guided by truth?

The reason the second part of that question from Jesus is so important is because it kind of defines who we are – not just our attitude but who we are underneath that attitude.

It’s is as if Jesus woke up and surveyed the moment and turned to his friends and said…

“Did you really think social media was going to blow up tonight with this headline: Aspiring Religious Leader Drowns at Sea?”

Jesus is moving their attention away from the storm for a moment and he asks them:

• “What happened to your faith in me?”
• “You had it just a little while ago back on shore.”
• “Did this storm convince you it was more powerful than me?”
• “You seemed to have faith when church met in the building.”
• “Have you lost it now that the church is meeting online?”

At any given moment in life one of the most powerful and helpful and healthiest questions you can ask yourself is this:

Where is your faith?

Now, if you are not a Christian, your faith may be in all kinds of stuff and all kinds of people, so, let me graciously say this. 

Hurricanes and tornadoes and landslides and fires and crime and violence and accidents and even ignorance can take your stuff away and your homes away and your buildings away and even people you love away in an instant. 

So, please don’t put your ultimate faith in stuff or people. 

And every religious or philosophical leader that has ever lived is dead except one – Jesus, the Christ. 

So, if you are not a follower of Jesus, we lovingly plead with you to engage with the story of Jesus, and it is our sincere hope that your heart would be quickened to the gospel and you would turn to Christ and experience the reality of what it means to be saved and safe and satisfied.

And if you are a Christian, where is your faith?

Is your faith in Christ right now?

Or have all the storms of life caused you to think that somehow the cradle of God has fallen and crashed to the ground?

Jesus is kindly but firmly turning to his friends and saying:

• “I never left the boat!”
• “I was here the whole time!”
• “The storm is not more powerful than me!”
• “The storm does not have more authority than me!”
• “If you have me you have everything you desperately need!”

So, let’s step out of the boat and go back to Psalm 46 and I want to go ahead and jump down to verses 2 and 3 and hear what they are saying to us and then use them to launch back into verse 1. 

2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;

3 Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.

We will not fear?

That is a pretty bold statement.

Where does he get the gumption to say that?

Well, we will see that in a moment, but first let’s check the scene.

What is he describing?

Well, at first glance it seems like he is describing some kind of natural disaster. 

Others think that this could be a reference to certain military battles and wars that God’s people had faced in those days.

But regardless of the specifics, the language is not confusing. 

Listen to some of those words again…

• Change
• Slip
• Roar
• Quake
• Pride

Do those not describe almost every single moment of our nation over the last 3 months?

• Change
• Slip
• Roar
• Quake
• Pride

Don’t be fooled, those things are not new. 

The first time we see words like that lived out is with the very first two people that existed on the earth. 

There is nothing new under the sun – the names are different and different and there are different people involved, but nothing is new under the sun.

Why?

Because the world is always suppressing the truth about God and rebelling against God.

So, what is a Christian supposed to do in the midst of all the suppressing and rebelling?

What is a Christian supposed to do during the storms of life?

The psalmist says that we should not be afraid. 

Now, none of us are perfect.

We are going to have moments when we are:

• Afraid
• Angry
• Apathetic

But will we stay that way?

Or will the gospel keep changing our attitude?

Will be known as someone who struggles in life just like everyone else but because we have been bought with a price – because we have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light – we fight through that struggle and trust God?

Or when people think about us or talk about us at the dinner table or read our posts on social media will they say that most of the time we are:

• A frightened man
• A frightened woman
• An angry man
• An angry woman
• An apathetic man
• An apathetic woman

The psalmist who was accustomed to wars and plagues and sickness and violence and injustice and natural disasters says take the worst crisis you can possibly think of – the worst disaster you can possibly imagine – the worst trouble you can dream up – the worst tragedy you could envision – and we should not ultimately and permanently be afraid of those things.

Why?

He’s already told us. 

Listen again to verse 1:

1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

I can’t force you to believe that.

I can’t force you to believe in God.

And if you already believe in God I can’t force to you change your attitude about the world right now.

I can’t force you, but I can graciously tell you that all of that is true. 

God is a refuge and a strength, and he is a super, powerful, amazing, very present help in trouble.

How do I know that?

Please forgive my oversimplicity, but I know that because:

• God has promised it
• God has proved it throughout history
• God has proved it in the lives of believers for 3,000 plus years
• God has proved it in my life

Does that mean that God will fix all of our problems?

No. 

It means that God has already fixed our greatest problem.

And it means that God will ultimately fix all problems.

So, what is our greatest problem?

Sin and death. 

And what has God done to fix that?

He sent his perfect Son to be crucified – the only death that has the power to rescue a person from the penalty of sin.

And what about that second one?

That second one sounded a little over the top – how will God ultimately fix all problems?

Martin Luther wrote it this way…

Martin Luther

And though this world,

with devils filled,

should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear,

for God hath willed

His truth to triumph through us;

Martin Luther

The body they may kill:

God’s truth abideth still,

His kingdom is forever.

Only God’s kingdom is forever. 

Whatever kingdom your nations builds on earth, that kingdom is not forever.

Whatever kingdom your favorite TV preacher builds on earth that kingdom is not forever.

Whatever kingdom your favorite sports team builds on earth that kingdom is not forever.

Whatever kingdom you build in your backyard or at the lake or in the mountains or at the beach or in a colony on Mars that kingdom is not forever. 

The only kingdom that is forever is the kingdom created and owned and managed and instigated and culminated by the one, true God, the Lord of hosts, the only one who is holy, holy, holy – the only one who was and is and is to come.

So, that truth begs some questions for our hearts. 

Is God your refuge?

Do you run to him in times of trouble?

Or do you run to the lake or the beach or the mountains or the pill bottle or the wine bottle or is your real refuge being bottled up with fear or anger or anxiety or apathy or selfishness or freaking out over everything you read on social media?

Dear Christian, do you really want God to be your refuge or would you rather go on vacation or would you rather be angry or would you rather be afraid or would you rather just not care either way?

The attitudes we run to first and most more often than not reflect what our true refuge is. 

When our comfort is attacked, as it has been in very unique ways the past 3 months, we begin to see where we are really placing our greatest hope for strength.

When the world goes crazy and things crash in on us, we begin to see where we are really placing our greatest hope for help.

What the psalmist is saying is that in his personal life he found that when things were crashing the hardest that’s when he felt the nearness of God the most. 

What about us?

Are you aware of the nearness of God?

• When you watch the news, are you aware of God?
• When you scroll through social media, are you aware of God?
• When you hear about laws passed, are you aware of God?
• When you hear about laws broken, are you aware of God?
• When you hear that church is still online, are you aware of God?

Is God your refuge and strength and your very present help in time of trouble or do the hard times make you think that God isn’t real or that God isn’t there?

That’s kind of what happened to Grace Rankin.

Grace had a dear friend who was killed three summers ago. 

She was devasted and cried out to the Lord for strength and help, but she said that she heard nothing and felt absolute silence.

She felt abandoned by God and wondered why he seemed more real when things were good instead of when they were bad.

She went to her dad for advice and this is what he said…

Grace’s Dad

We only have two options. We can choose to run toward God or away from him.

So, which way are you running today?

• Are you running toward fear?
• Are you running toward anger?
• Are you running toward apathy and just blowing everything off?

Her dad went on and told her this about running toward God…

Grace’s Dad

Running toward him is scary sometimes – he’s massive and powerful. But running away from him is even more frightening.

Grace decided to run toward God.

She didn’t have this miraculous experience from God where he just mystically became a strong tower of help to her overnight, but she kept running and she kept listening and she kept reading her Bible and she kept praying and she kept loving other people and she kept waiting and this is what she said about God…

Grace Rankin

Gently, his peace came to guard my heart and mind. It stole in undetectably at first, like the earliest light of sunrise, but it came to comfort me, just as he promised.

Grace Rankin

We are promised a happy ending, union with Christ, and that what happens here won’t last forever. Christ is coming. We must only keep running to him, waiting in trust and peace.

If you are truly running to Christ, then you will not make fear or anger or apathy your refuge. 

If you are truly running to Christ, not perfectly, but you will do justly toward others – red and yellow, black and white.

If you are truly running to Christ, not perfectly, but you will be merciful to others – red and yellow, black and white. 

If you are truly running to Christ, not perfectly, but you will walk humbly with God.

• And when things change
• And when you slip
• And when social media roars
• And when the ground under the stuff you own begins to quake
• And when the pride of this sinful world threatens to undo you

You will remember that God is your refuge and strength.

You will remember that he is a very present help in trouble even if you can’t see him or hear him.

And you will remember that his kingdom is forever. 

And if you are in Christ you will remember that his kingdom is your kingdom.

 

Message by Dow Welsh |

June 7, 2020 © Holland Avenue Baptist Church

 

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Above are pre-sermon manuscript notes, not sermon transcript

Sermon scriptures NASB unless otherwise noted

Lots of help from many pastors and theologians

Weekly help from Bruce Hurt at www.preceptaustin.org

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/where-is-god-when-i-need-him-most

Have you ever heard something that didn't sound right? Something that just didn't sound right? And I'm not talking about mishearing some lyrics I'm talking about. There's just something about the song that doesn't sound right. Over the last 11 days, my parents have become grandparent's. I'm sorry, great grand parents for the very first time twice. My nephew and his wife and my niece and her husband have both had babies the last two Thursdays. That, of course, makes me a great uncle, which, hey, nothing's new now. Probably more than likely, either through some crooning grandparent's or through some type of accessory to a crib. It is possible that maybe Wells and Baby Warner have already heard the song The Lullaby Rock a Bye Baby. Now the words go like this if you have for gotten or not familiar. Pretty simple. Rockabye baby in a treetop. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bow breaks, the cradle will fall and down will come baby cradle and all, huh? You know is one baby said. How in the world can I go to sleep after hearing that? It's a strange songs. Those words don't sound right that the lyrics of a song that's a at the baby's going to crash to the ground. It doesn't sound right, you know, we're living in days where there are lots of things that don't sound right, it seems, is if the cradle of our society has broken and it's fallen to the ground, there's there's been a crashing, so to speak. So what we do, what do we do? And when the world seems to be crashing in around us, well, there's some ancient advice that has not lost an ounce of punch. In fact, for the last 3000 years, over the course of 3000 plus years, really people in the Middle East and people in the middle of Africa and people in the middle of Asian people in the middle of Europe, people in the middle of the Outback, people in the middle of New York City, people in the middle of your neighborhood have been building their lives upon this ancient advice. This advice. Every time the world comes crashing in on them, they keep going to it over and over and over again. This advice has guided generation after generation after generation red and yellow and black and white. It has guided them successfully faithfully, through all the moments when life was crashing around. It has helped them pull the scattered pieces of their minds back together so that they could do the next right? I think so. Sounds like advice we might be able to use right something that would pull the scattered pieces of our minds together so that we can do the next right thing. So what is this advice? What is this advice that spilling over with truth and help and hope for today? Well, let's see if we can find out some 46 beginning with verse one. God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. One day Jesus was on a boat sailing with his disciples. Some of his disciples were professional commercyal fishermen. They kind of knew what to do on the boat, and they're sailing across the water. And Jesus was actually taking a nap. He was asleep and a storm came up pretty bad storm and the boat started rocking and the waves started crashing over the boat and into the boat and Jesus State asleep. Heavy sleeper Jesus Waas and the disciples had toe wake him up. And when he woke up, what was the first thing he said to them? He wiped out his eyes. He looked at his friends and he said, Why are you guys afraid? Why are you afraid? Remember, we got some professional professional fishermen on this boat that this wasn't their first storm. We also have the disciples of Jesus on this boat. They've been around Jesus for a while now. They have seen Jesus. An action miraculous, amazing, unexplainable action. And there in the boat. And they're afraid now, in one sense, sure, they were afraid they were in a crazy storm that every right to be afraid. But then, in another sense, they didn't need to be afraid because Jesus, the Jesus was in the boat with him. So Jesus wakes up, he says, Why are you guys afraid? He's not mad at him. He's not trying to rebuke them, just asking a straightforward question. Why were you afraid? So let's get in the boat for a moment and let me expand this question from Jesus in this way right now, people all over the world are basically functioning in one of three main categories. There's others, but but here's kind of the three mainland's. They are afraid they are angry or they are apathetic. Now, granted, there some folks out there that are that are in the phase of adoration. You know their their trust in the Lord, walking with the Lord. They seemingly have been unraveled and praise the Lord for those folks and for us as believers. Let's let's pray that God would move us in that direction at the very least, that we be around some folks like that. But most people, most of us, generally speaking, are struck in one of those three categories. Now you might be struggling with more than one. Maybe you're a little bit angry and little bit apathetic. Maybe you're a little bit afraid, A little apathetic. Maybe you're a little bit angry and a little afraid you could be struggling with two or even all three of those. But but one of them, if you're honest with your heart and mind, one of them is a little stronger than the other one. So take just a moment and go ahead and diagnosed yourself and and see which one of those has a little stronger pitch in your mind. And then once you have that, then ask yourself the appropriate question. Why are you afraid? Why are you angry? Why are you apathetic? What's the answer to that question? Now, there's a second part to Jesus. Question first part. Are you afraid the second part is is just important. The second part to his friends. He said, Where is your faith? Get both of these questions were needed. Okay, so So why are you afraid? Where is your faith? Why are you angry? Where is your faith? Why are you apathetic? Where is your faith? They're both needed. Their both their. Now listen, we're Thomas Smiley perfection here, okay? You're going to have moments where you're going to be angry and you have moments. We're going to be afraid. You have moments. We're going to be apathetic. You can have saving faith, and you can be angry. You can have saving faith, and you could be afraid. And you can't have saving faith. And you could be apathetic. But but it probably would be helpful to say this on apathy. At the very least, I think it would be extremely difficult for you to have saving faith and to be unapologetically apathetic, meaning you just don't care about showing justice and mercy. Likewise, I think it would be extremely difficult, have saving faith and to be unapologetically apathetic, meaning you just don't care about humility or walking humbly with God or loving your neighbor in the same way that you love yourself. And likewise, I think it would be extremely difficult for you to have saving faith and be unapologetically apathetic, meaning you just don't care about unrighteous fear or unrighteous. And what's that? What's unrighteous fear and unrighteous anger? Well, it's fear and anger that's driven by being sinful or irrational or unreasonable or self centered instead of being guided in some way, shape or form by the character and nature and truth of God. So tonight, this afternoon, sometime today, ask yourself those questions. Hey, what is going on with my anger, my fear and my apathy? Are you being driven by sin or are you being guided by truth? It's an important question, Jesus asked his friends. He said, Why are you afraid? And in the second part of that, where is your faith. It's super important for me and for you, because it kind of the Inter to that question at least kind of helps us see not just where our attitude is but who we are underneath that attitude and who we are underneath the attitude matters. It's like Jesus woke up, surveyed the situation and it's almost as if he was saying to his friends, Guys, did you really think that social media I was going to blow up tonight with this headline? Aspiring religious leader drowns at sea Guys, Do you really think that was what was going to happen? See what Jesus is doing is is drawing their attention away from the storm for a moment and drawing their attention to him. He's looking at them and saying, Hey, what what happened to your faith? Where did it go? I mean, you had it when we were back on shore. What what happened? Did did this storm convince you that it was more powerful than me and modernizing it a little bit? Jesus might say, Hey, you're facing to be okay when all the churches were meeting inside the building. But now that the churches is on liner are out in a field or in some other situation. What has it seemed like? Maybe your faith is is faded a little bit. See at any given moment. One of the best and most powerful and most helpful and healthiest questions that you can ask yourself is this. Where is my faith? Where it's my faith. If you're not a Christian, your faith might be in a number of different things. Different people, different philosophies. And if so, let me just graciously say this. Hurricanes and tornadoes and tropical storms and landslides and fires and crying and violence, accidents, even ignorance can take your stuff away and your home away. And you're building away your job away, your money away, even people you love away in an instant. So please don't put your ultimate faith in things or in people. Put your faith in something that's solid and sure, And every religious leader and every philosophical leader that has ever lived physically died and stayed dead except for one. And that one is Jesus the Christ. So if you're not a Christian, we would plead with you, consider the story of Jesus, and we sincerely desire that God would quicken your heart to the gospel and that you would turn to Christ that you would repent turn around and that you would experience the reality of what it means to be saved and safe and satisfied. That is, are longing for But if you are Christian But the question remains, where is your faith? Where's it at? Is your faith right now in Christ? Or have the storms of life convince you that somehow the cradle of God has broken and fallen and crashed? Why are you afraid? Why are you angry? Why are you apathetic? And where is your faith? In the midst of all of those things? Jesus is kindly but firmly turning to his friends and saying something very simple. Hey, guys, I never left the boat. I've been right here the whole time. That storm is not more powerful than May that that storm does not have more authority than May. And if you have me, then you have everything that you most desperately I need. If you have Christ, you have what you most desperately need. So step out of the boat and let's step back into some 46 I'm a jump down two versus two and three and then launch back in diverse one. So verse to Osama says this. Therefore, we will not fear, though the Earth should change. And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea though its waters roar and foam though the mountains quake at its swelling pride, Thomas says, We will not fear. No, that's a pretty bold statement. I mean, where does he get the gumption to say that we're going to see where he gets the gumption in just a moment? But first, let's catch the scene here. What does he described? Well, it seems as if he's describing some natural disaster. Others believe maybe he's using natural disaster language to figuratively talk about wars and military battles that got people had endured. But regardless of the specifics, the language is not confusing. The language here is riveting. Listen to some of these words. Change slip. Leah Quake Pride. Those were the words that the Psalmist is using to describe these moments. Now, do any of those words not sound like the last few months? At the very least, listen to him again. Change slip. Sure. Quake pride. Listen, don't be full. Those things are not new. The first time that we see any of those things on Earth were with the first people that existed on the Earth. There are different names. There's different titles. There's different people involved. But there is nothing new under the sun. And there will be nothing new under the sun. Why? Well, because the world is always suppressing the truth of God. The world is always rebelling against God. And so while that is happening, these things will continue to happen. So what's the Christian supposed to do it? What? Someone who follows Jesus. What? What are they supposed to do in the middle of all this suppressing in all of this rebellion? What is a Christian supposed to do when the storms of life crashing? Well, the Psalmist says they're not supposed to be afraid. Um I mean, come on, not be afraid. Look, again, we're not talking about perfection, okay? We're all going to have moments where we're afraid, angry or apathetic and other things. But will we stay that way? That's the question. Will we stay that way? Or will the gospel help our attitude change? Will it just be Bible stories? that we remember from the time that we're kids, or will the gospel in these moments keep changing our hearts towards God and towards loving others? When people, no us and they talk about us, will will they know that we're the kind of people that struggle just like everybody else, where they see us struggling? But because we've been bought with a price because we've been transferred from the Kingdom of Darkness into the kingdom of life, will they also see us fighting through our strife, to trust in God? Or when people talk about us when when they discuss our names at the dinner table when they look at our social media post, will they say that most of the time what they see in us is that we are a frightened man or a frightened woman? Well, they say that most of the time I know him to be an angry man or an angry woman, or most of the time I know him to be an apathetic man or apathetic woman. What will we be known by? Normally see, the psalmist was accustomed toe war plagues to sickness, violence, to injustice, to natural disasters and just about everything else you can imagine. And the Psalmist says You know what? Pick out the worst crisis or tragedy are trouble that you can think of like the worst thing you can possibly imagine. The worst disaster that you can think of And take that and don't ever be ultimately and permanently afraid of it. Why? Why would he say that? But he's already told us was the universe one God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. Listen, I can't force you to believe that I can't force you to believe in God. If you believe in God, I can't force you to change your attitude about everything that's happening in the world right now. I can't force you, but I can graciously tell you this all of this it's true. God is a refuge. God is a strength. God is a super powerful, awesome, Amazing, Very present help in times of trouble. It is who he is. How do I know that? Well, please forgive me for the oversimplification, but I know that because God promised God declared it. God proclaimed and God has proven it throughout history. God has proven it to believers for more than 1000 years that he is a refuge. He is a strength. He has a very present help in times of trouble. We are tempted to think that reality is whatever we have read this morning on social media. Whatever we saw on the news, that might be reality for this moment. But God is a bigger reality, and his reality exists over all creation overall time forever and ever and ever. God has proved it in the lives of believers for more than 3000 years. And I'll just simply say God has proven it to me that he is a refuge. He is a strength, and he is a very present help in times of trouble. Now, does that mean God's going to fix all your problems and everything is going to be fluffy and peachy? No. It means that God has already fixed your greatest problem. And it means that God will fix ultimately all problems. What does that mean was your greatest problem? What is our greatest problem where our greatest problem is sin and death? Because it doesn't just kill us physically, but it separates us from God spiritually. So what? It got duty to fix that. Well, God actually sent his perfect son to be crucified, and his death is the Onley death that has the ability to rescue a person from the penalty of sin. That's what God has done. And the 2nd 1 sounds over the top, right? God's going to fix all problems. Was that me? Martin Luther put it this way. And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear for God. Half willed his truth, to triumph through us. And he goes on the body. They may kill God's truth. Abideth. Still, his kingdom is forever his kingdom. It's forever. Whatever kingdom your nation may build, that kingdom is not forever. Whatever kingdom your favorite TV preacher or Internet preacher builds here on Earth, that kingdom is not forever. Whatever kingdom your favorite sports team builds on Earth, that kingdom is not forever. Whatever kingdom you build in your backyard or are at the lake or the mountains or at the beach, or are on a colony on Mars wherever it is, that kingdom is not forever. The only kingdom that is forever is the one that has been created and is owned and managed and instigated and culminated by the one true god, the Lord of Hosts. The only one who is holy, Holy, holy, the only one who was and is and is to come, his kingdom and Onley. His kingdom is forever, and that truth begs some questions of us. Here's the 1st 1 Is God your refuge? Are you in the practice of running to God first and most, Or do you run to the lake and run to the beach and run to the mountains and can't run to Mars yet? But we're working on it. Or maybe you run to the pill bottle or the wine bottler. Or maybe you run to being bottled up with anger or apathy Or fear or anxiety are just freaking out about what you see on social media or believing what you see on social media, what bottles you up? What are you running to? The question for Christians is this. Do you want God to be your refuge? I mean, really, this. This is an honest question. We need to ask in the mirror. Do we really want God to be our refuge? Or do we won't vacation to be our refuge? Or do we just like being angry? Do we just like being afraid? Do we just like being apathetic? And And we would just rather do that because it's comfortable and doesn't require a whole lot, and we don't have to change our schedule around. See, the truth of the matter is when the storms of life hit, that's when we really begin to find out what our refuge is. When our comfort is attacked, as it has been for these last three months, the very least, we begin to find out where we're really looking to find strength. When the world begins to crash in on us, we begin to really find where we're looking to find help with Thomas is saying, is that when his world pressed in the hardest, when things were crashing in the most, that is when the nearness of God felt the most rial to him, that the nearness of God was more real to him when things were crashing around him. So how about us? Are you aware of the nearness of God when you watch the news? Are you aware of God? Are you looking up when you scroll through social media. Are you aware of God? Are you looking up when you hear about laws that are passed? Are you aware of God or are you looking up when you hear about laws that are broken? Are you aware of God? Are you looking at when you hear that church is still online, Are out in the field, are out in a parking lot of you aware of God, or are you still looking up? Or do the storms of life become so strong that God is not your refuge? He's not your strength. He's not your very present help in times of trouble because you don't really want his nearness, you won't something else. In fact, oftentimes what happens is we begin to feel like in the middle of the storm that either God is not listening or God is not really, in a sense, that's kind of what happened to Grace Ranking Grace. It had a friend who was killed three summers ago, and she was devastated. She cried out to God. She asked God for help, and she said her experience was nothing but silence. She felt like God had abandoned her in some way, and she was confused because it seemed like God was always there when things were comfortable and good. But But when things were hard, it seemed like God wasn't around. It's a grace went to her dad for some advice, and this is what her dad said. We only have two options. We can choose to run toward God or run away from him. So which way you're running today? Are you running toward God? Are you running toward fear? Are you running toward Hank? Are you running toward apathy? Which way are you running? Her dad went on to say this about running toward God. Running toward him is scary. Sometimes he's massive and powerful, but running away from him is even more frightening. So what a great Steve. Well, she listened her dad, and she decided to run toward God. And God didn't become miraculously some mystical strong tower to her overnight. But she kept running to him, and she kept listening, and she kept reading the Bible and she kept praying and she kept loving other people, and she kept waiting. And this is what she said about what happened with her and God. Gently his piece came to guard my heart and mind. It's stole in undetected Lee at first like the earliest light of sunrise. But it came to comfort me just as he promised. And then she says this We were promised a happy ending union with Christ and that what happens here won't last forever. Christ is coming. We must Onley Keep running to him waiting and trust and peace. If you are running to Christ, then at the very least, it will be extremely difficult for you to make fear and anger and apathy your refuge. If you are running to Christ, not perfectly, but you will do justly toward others. Red and yellow, black and white. If you are running to Christ, not perfectly, but you will be mercyful to others red and yellow, black and why? If you are running to Christ, not perfectly, but you will live in humility toward others red and yellow, black and why? If you're running to Christ, then you will walk humbly with God And then when things change when you slip. When social media roars when the stuff you own is sitting on ground and that ground begins to quake and when the pride of this sinful world threatens to undo. If you're running to Christ, you will remember that God is your refuge and he's your strength. And you will remember that he's a very present help in times of trouble, even if you can't see him and even if you can't hear him. And if you're running to Christ, you'll remember that his kingdom is forever and you'll also remember. But his kingdom is your kingdom. God yes, our refuge and strength and God yes, waas and will always be a very present help in time of trouble.