A time will come when everything is on the line – your reputation, your livelihood, your very life itself. When you're staring at the end of the rope with the threads so frayed that you can't believe a rope once existed, God is fighting for you, defending you, and keeping you. He is your refuge and your strength. He is present in the midst of your struggle. An unmovable figure, unswayed and unfrazzled. Though you may feel alone and forgotten, he is not slumbering as you melt away. He is in the very center of the battle, shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart. He is a very present help in your time of trouble, always near and never far. He is with you and for you. A bulwark never failing.
The ship feels as if it's sinking. The cannons have poked holes through and through. But God is a hiding place protecting you from the storm with power to make the winds and seas obey. The waters may roar and foam, swirling and twirling, pulling and ripping, seeking to devour the very mountains themselves. Mountains may be moved to the heart sea, drowned far below without a ripple upon the surface to pay tribute. Yet you will not be moved any further than your Father allows. You need not fear. He is not asleep in the stern of your boat. Your helper he amid the flood.
As the deer pants for constant flowing streams so your soul pants for living waters. There is a city present today and tomorrow where the streams of living water flow gently by, as a cool creek on a hot summer day. The very glimpse of it can calm your soul. It is a city of peace because the Prince of Peace is there. It is the city where God is with you and for you, visibly and undoubtedly. It isn’t shakable and it isn’t moveable, except to come down from heaven to dwell with you. It is a city with a King on a throne. And though all the nations rage, the earth melts at the utterance of his voice. On earth is not his equal.
God is involved in your life. He will be there when the rope starts to lag. He will be there when it gives way. At that very moment you are bid to come and behold the works he has performed in your story. He has parted the Red Sea before you. He has brought you out of the house of slavery. He has relocated your dislocated heart. He has reached down into the madness of your very being. He has ended the wars raging in your heart. He ceased the accusers, the loud-mouths, and the insulters. He has destroyed the weapons of war waged against you. He has brought you under his watchful care. He has been God to you. The right man is on your side.
When that time comes – and as surely as the day is bright it will come – surrender your all to God. Be still, for he is God. He alone will be exalted and in him alone you will be exalted. God is with you and for you. You are his and he is yours. He is your refuge, your strength, your help. He is your mighty fortress. He is your God. His truth abideth still.
Don’t believe me? See Psalm 46 for proof.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4 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
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah