Therefore we will not fear

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio 

Psalm 46:1-3 

God is our refuge and 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, 

though its waters roar and foam 

and the mountains quake with their surging

Do you really trust the Lord? 

Have you seen him deliver you 
again and again? 

Has he rescued you before? 

Do you know his kindness and his voice? 

Have you experienced his undeserved forgiveness and mercy?

Have you walked closely with him through seasons of pain and difficulty and known him in that place? 


Have you known him in times of great change and turmoil?

Have you allowed him into the dark halls of your personal and moral failures?

When my children we were little we used to practice things. Like how you behave when some one gives you a gift, or pays you a compliment. How to be safe in a strange place. I would tell them you learn to quickly obey my voice and trust my lead in these small things, when bigger things come up you will know what to do. I could say to them in the grocery store line "sit and fold" and they would sit down on the floor and fold their hands in their laps and wait for me. My children are teenagers and no matter what we face they trust my lead. There has been a bond of trust that has been built over time. We've been through some difficult stuff through the years. We've weathered some storms that left us shaken for a time but in those storms we huddled together and supported each other. When they were little and the world got too big I would draw them back to a smaller place until they were ready to go out and explore some more. 

Even as adults sometimes our world becomes to big. We have walked into an arena that seems too overwhelming. It is in those times and seasons that we must huddle up in God's presence and remember our security is found in him.

My children have learned how to return to base or center. Mommy was the base

and when things got too big we came back to that place of being centered. I do the same thing with the Lord. He is my center and as my children have grown more and more God has become their center - mommy just showed them how to get back to base.

In the little daily challenges do you practice God's presence? If you learn the secret of abiding in him no matter what storm may hit you will know where base is in the middle of great confusion. He allows us to practice in the little things. Do you hear him say to you "sit and fold" which is translated in Him as "Be still and know that I am God". If you can learn to sit and fold in him in the daily stuff of life you will know how to do it when you face bigger things. If you learn how to travel out from center or base and how to return to that place when things get too big. You will know how to face new things with him always close enough but giving you the space to explore, discover and grow. 

Therefore we will not fear, 

though the earth give way 

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 

though its waters roar and foam 

and the mountains quake with their surging

Why?

Because..."God is our refuge and strength, 

an ever-present help in trouble".

We don't have to fear when we have been trained in his ever-present-ness. What ever you are facing today find your way back to base. Allow him to comfort you and to speak peace and courage to you. Allow him to tell you that he has made you for such a time as this. Allow him to help you re-group so you can go back out and come back in to his presence.

Some times he has to help us clean up a mess that we've gotten into by going to far in some direction or getting into something that was not ours to get into. He will help you - get yourself back to base or call him to come to you in the middle of the mess. He waits until we realize we need him and then he comes to our aid. 

Prayer:

Dear Lord, help us to know your ever-present-ness in every day things. So that when we face change or trouble we will know how to find your ever-present-ness in that place as well. Help us to know you as our refuge and our strength so we can say with confidence...Therefore we will not fear.