Selah

Hey, do you remember that Saturday it didn’t rain? It’s getting harder to picture it. I saw one statistic that stated it rained 13 of the last 17 weekends. Tons of stuff has been cancelled, rescheduled, or awkwardly rearranged. It has been disruptive. Yet we also easily forget that at the beginning of the year we were showing signs of drought.

There is turmoil across the world, it seems like we hear about new wars every day. Discussing it with friends and neighbors can feel like navigating a mine field as we try to boil massively multifaceted global issues into coherent opinions that won’t damage relationships. It feels like we can’t win.

And this doesn’t even tap into the struggles in our personal lives. It can get so deeply sad and overwhelming. We want things to be simple, but we live in world of complexity. As we near the tipping point of despair we must take action so we don’t dive right over that edge. We must seek out the reminder that God is in control and will make all things right in the end. Psalm 46 tells us:

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