“God is within her; she will not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns. “ (Psalm 46:5)
Brethren, there is no doubt that we’ve all got a lot going in the world that are well enough to make a person’s heart to sink. There's been a most troubled political scenery in our nation; there's been pandemic; there's been job loss; there's been deaths; and now, we are faced with a most adverse atmospheric condition. News about the onsloughts of present adverse weather is increasingly troubling. Auto crash and deaths on our ways keep coming in the news. But can we please pause and see through the spectacles of 2 Timothy 3:1, which already presents us helpful hints on how we may get ourselves ready for such perilous moments as these. Its message is clear: “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.”
Apostle Paul wrote that caution. But before it, he had warned in earlier chapter (2 Timothy 2:3-13) that Timothy, his original recipient should not allow fear of oncoming peril and trouble to paralyse his efforts in the Master’s cause. This same admonition goes for us: God’s children and true servants should never lose heart. We are even more advantaged than Timothy because we can now learn both from Paul’s admonition to him as well as the Lord‘s charge to us: that we should never let our hearts be troubled. (John 14:1) The Lord said those words because there were so many looming reasons for those disciples to be troubled. Their Lord was to be betrayed by a most trusted friend; He was to be unfairly tried in the hands of wicked men; He would die a most gruesome death; and as for them, all the disciples, they are about to be left as sheep without a shepherd. Peter was going to fall back and derail, both into a shameful personal denial of his Lord and back to the seaside from which the Lord had called him. All these are enough to cause real heart trouble.
However, we are grateful that in every age and milieu, it is never the will of God that His people should "be troubled" in heart. He always sends His words to give strength to the weary. (Isaiah 40:29-31). Therefore, friends, there is no reason to fear. Instead, God wants us to be prepared to combat any dangers that times, chances and seasons may bring our way, whether foretold, forecasted or not.
In Job 28:25-27, we have an assurance that God is aware and in all the events in our world. It reads: “When He imparted weight to the wind and meted out the waters by measure, when He set a limit for the rain and a course for the thunderbolt,
Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out.” That is why Jesus *said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:26-27) So, my friend, you may be going through a most ordinary situation; but you are not ordinary because of the presence of Christ with you. Or, you may be going through a most extraordinary circumstance; but just be confident that Jesus walks upon all the winds. In Mark 4:39-41, Jesus “got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
In a similar account of doctor Luke (8:24-25), Christ’s disciples came to Him “and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?” God needs our faith activated in whatever time and season, easy or tough, in which we may find ourselves. He is already in it all. Job 5:10 tells us: “He gives rain on the earth and sends water on the fields.” We all may have read about all the situation that the biblical character Job finds himself in. It may probably help if we turn our attention on lessons from Job. His friends had tormented him with so much words: some of them from clear motives, and some from a gross misunderstanding of God. But during one of those days, Job needed to respond a speech from Bildad. Please, learn from Job’s response. Of God, he (Job) said: “He wraps up the waters in His clouds, and the cloud does not burst under them. He obscures the face of the full moon and spreads His cloud over it.” (Job 26:8-9)
What is it that you are passing through today, my friend? You are not alone! Be strengthened in the word of the Lord. God is in all the seasons. He is not an absentee God at all. When the Sons of Korah organized Alamoth Choir, they sang a song in praise of God as the refuge and strength of His people, their ever-present help in trouble. As far as God is present to help His people in troubled times, “therefore” they sang, “we will not fear, though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” (Psalm 46:2) They painted vivid and dramatic images of all possible emergencies of their then known world. Which I am persuaded would have included all the perils we are familiar with today if they were alive to do a remix of their song. It might not be a popular hip-hop but it would include such things as threats of nuclear annihilation, terrorism, pandemic, cancer, wars and rumors of war, and what-have-you!
Here is the summary, if we can heed the commanding voice of God amid our raging storms, we can be sure that all our foes shall be humbled and jubilant song of victory, like the song of Alamoth shall fill our mouth. Therefore, would you please be still and know that He is God. God's saints may not have a different condition from the rest of the people; but they can rejoice in a better covenant. So, more than ask you to get a good coats for the season (get it); or dress in layers (do so); and keep your feet warm; find a warm hat that will keep the wind off your ears; and warm gloves to protect your hands; or a stat at home alert when the roads are dangerous; I will ask you to look through all the blessings we have received and the glorious promises of the word of God, and remain still (calm) for the Lord is God.
We are to be calm despite all odds. Isaiah 8:10 charges us to have confidence in God “even if your enemies devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us."
God’s Zionists can rejoice for:
God is within her; she will not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns. Nations rage, kingdoms crumble; the earth melts when He lifts His voice. The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah. Come, see the works of the LORD, who brings devastation upon the earth. He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire. "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth." The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah. (Psalm 46:5-11)
With all my love and prayers,
Simon Wale Olatunji, PhD
DaBishop