God is Our Refuge

On Saturday morning I went to the grocery to grab a box of cereal for breakfast. I got there around 7:15. The store opened at 7 and I was 15 minutes late to the party!  The store was jammed packed. In fact, as I was walking in there was an elderly gentleman leaving and we made eye contact. He said, “Son, your late!… It’s crazy town in the there!”  And it was – total panic shopping!

It reminds me of that story about how one summer evening during a violent thunderstorm, a mother was tucking her small boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, “Mommy, will you sleep with in here with me tonight?’  The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. “I can’t dear,” she said, “I have to sleep in there with your daddy.” A long silence was broken at last by a shaky little voice saying, “Oh. That big baby.”

Like the boy in the story, so often we find ourselves afraid. Often afraid of the unknown. What will the diagnosis be? Will my loved one be alright? What’s happening to the stock market? What’s going to happen to our country? How many people is this virus going to touch? Will there be food?

Do you know what the most frequent command is in the Bible? You would think it would be Love God or Love your neighbor. According to Jesus, those are the greatest commandments, but, they are not the most frequent. The most frequent command is, “Fear not!” Far more than any other command, over and over we read the words, “Fear not.”   Fear not.  I think it’s the most frequent because being human, we do fear… being human, we are so easily unsettled.

Psalm 46, which we read yesterday is one of my favorites because it brings us back. It moves us from the arena of fear to the arena of trust and faith. It reminds us of God’s presence in the midst of what feels like a crumbling world.

God is our refuge and strength,

    a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,

    though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;

I pray that in the midst of all that it is happening in the world around us, you would know Christ’s presence; that you would feel God’s love.

Let us pray: Holy Spirit, calm our hearts and our minds. Assure us again that we, and this world, rest securely in your hands.  Amen.