Overwhelmed
Psalm 46:2 “Therefore
we will not fear even though the earth be removed. And though the mountains be
carried into the midst of the sea.”
Watch out now! This is another bold declaration by the
writer. Here again we see the complete confidence being claimed in the Lord.
This is a pretty scary scene being portrayed for us. Fear causes paralysis.
Fear can stop a huge momentum in its tracks when it comes to humans. There is a
reason that Jesus says, “Fear not!” so many times in the New Testament. It’s exactly
because of this type of ominous activity that is eventually going to happen in
all of our lives. It shouldn’t be the normal day-to-day stuff that life is made
of, but on occasion terrible and tragic trouble comes to us.
The earth being removed is a serious ordeal of gigantic
proportions. The earth, here in this verse, I see in stark contrast against the
Lord in the first verse. As humans, we tend to put our trust in that which we
can see, smell, taste, feel, or hear. You know, what we call the material
world. But this writer is telling us not to put too much stock in these things
because they can be shaken, while the Lord God Almighty is our refuge and
strength and is not moved by any agitation of any magnitude. He cannot be
shaken or removed. He is steady, He is faithful, and He is true!
I tend to not even think about the ground under my feet. I
have never been in an earthquake. I have always trusted in stable support
beneath me. Is there something in your life that you have always trusted to be
there and now it’s not there? Has that steady part of your life all of a sudden
come up missing or shaky? If so, you’re not unlike most of us who take earthly
things for granted. Just because something has always been there for us, does
not mean it will always remain there. Any of us who have ever lost a job, a
friend, or a loved one, can attest to that. Earthly possessions do not last.
God our savior is everlasting. In the Book of Colossians we are instructed to
keep our minds on things above, not on things of the earth beneath. There is a
reason for this. This material world is finite, unstable, and waning, ever
since sin and death entered into God’s original design for creation. The Bible
teaches us that heaven and earth will pass away, but the word of our God will
stand forever. You can take that to the bank and start a trust with it…
I tend to count on my routines. They’re safe, predictable,
and comfortable. When the earth (My neat and tidy little world) violently
shakes, when the ground under me (My foundational ideas about how life should
be) thrusts and sinks causing mountains and valleys, and when agitating
circumstances (Unplanned events which make me squirm and kick) pound against
me, I have to remember my God is my refuge and strength, He is in attendance in
my fractured world with me. He is not moved by what is seriously moving me. I
must keep my focus while everything is spinning wildly about me. I must grab
hold of the rock that is higher than I. The Lord God Almighty who is never
moved or shaken.
We all need to be able to stand. If what I am standing on
isn’t sure, I will fall. Falling down is a natural part of life, but it
shouldn’t be the norm for a mature adult. Is there something you are standing
on that is not God’s truth? If so, when challenged by the word that thing will
let you down, cause you to stumble, or make you tip over. Jesus talks about
building our house on solid ground (God’s truth) not on sinking sand (our
opinions about what is truth). If we take the wrong stance it may not be readily
apparent that we have chosen poorly, but once the wind and the rain come, and
the earth is removed, our opinions of truth will collapse. So why wait? Let us
be brave enough to check our life against His word, and see if there is any
place where we are standing upright that will eventually betray us and cause us
to sink.
Speaking of sinking, this last part of the verse talks about
a force so strong that it casts the mountains into the midst of the sea. Can
you say extinction! That’s the type of world disaster being described here. A
real world killer. Lights out the party’s over. The proverbial fat lady is
singing…
As I think about what it means for a rather gigantic object
to be heaved into a major body of water, I can only think one thing, “TSUNAMI!”
Tsunami’s cause big waves, raise water lines at the shore, and flood
everything, sometimes even for miles inland. It is a wave, or waves, of
destruction that will carry everything in their path away. Nothing can stop one
of these tidal monsters. There is no force on earth greater than rushing water.
Have you ever been devastated by a rush of force in your life that carried some
things of yours away? IS there something, right now that you are thinking of,
as we are discussing this, which was dear to you, and now seems to have been
just swept out of your life? According to this verse, it happens. Maybe you’ll
see it again downstream, or maybe you won’t, but this makes it time to turn to
God, who has not been swept away, who is not of this earth, and therefore is
able to help you withstand this flood. He says in His word that He will help us
when the floodwaters try to overtake us. We will not sink with Him as our
strength.
