When Chaos, Crisis and Calamity Comes

Church Family:
Do you find yourself thinking and living as a “what if” Christian or an “even if” Christian? A “what if” Christian is one who is ruled by anxiety and worry as they imagine worst-case “what if” scenarios and their potential consequences. An “even if” Christian is one who knows that “even if” the worst may come tomorrow there is no reason to fear because God is carrying out His plan on this earth and He has promised to be your refuge and strength. Where do you spend much of your day, in the "what ifs" or the "even ifs"?

God has made endless promises to you so that you would be a resilient “even if” follower of Christ. In Psalm 46, everything that once seemed so stable is collapsing and melting away around God's people. This Psalm is one of those places in Scripture where God speaks directly to your soul stirring fears. God is declaring to you that He wants to replace your panic with hope-filled expectation. God desires to inject joy into all of your hardships. God desires to replace your anxiety with peace that is beyond earthly understanding. God declares to you in Psalm 46, that He alone is your only sufficient source of refuge and strength. Is He yours?

When God is your refuge, it is He alone that you are trusting to give you protection and defense against the attacks that are made against you. When God is your strength, it is He alone that you seek energy and power from to sustain your faith to meet any attack. God desires for you to have an eternal perspective no matter what chaos, crisis or calamity comes. He wants to be your fortress of refuge when the turmoil of the last day comes and heaven and earth pass away and all the kingdoms of this world fall away. He wants you to know that you are a child and resident of the Kingdom that never passes away.

There is only one ultimate source of hope, resilience and fearlessness in 2025. The One True God who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ, the One who upholds the universe by the word of His power, is also your Savior and King. He will not to be moved even in chaos, crisis and calamity. Wherever you are today and whatever the circumstances of your life, God wants you to “be still and know that He is God” and to know that He is worthy to be trusted as your "refuge and strength in your times of trouble" (Ps. 46).

See you Sunday, being still and knowing that God is God over all: Steve