Trusting the Lord of Hosts in Chaos

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Yet in the midst of it despite whatever challenges and struggles and difficulties that you can conjure up as if you were to think of your life and what happens when everything that is sure for you starts to fall apart everything that brings confidence security, whatever your life is crumbling the psalm says we're not going to fear I mean that's a that's an entire perspective shift and the reason for that is not just because the psalms will say listen life's tough and when life's tough we're going to dig deep in ourselves and we're going to learn a little bit more about who we are and all the skills that we have and all we're going to unlock that deep potential within us that's not what the bible teaches here the bible says we're not going to fear but the reason we're not going to fear isn't because you you've got it in and of yourself, the reason we don't fear is because God's got it, that he is our refuge, he is our strength, and the verse says what? A very present help in trouble. [00:14:32] (66 seconds)  #PresenceOverPerspective

So that when trouble hits again tomorrow, or today, or whenever that may be, we say, God is our refuge and our strength. Because I remember the last, we were here before. We've experienced this before. We've walked through days like this before. God is faithful, and we will trust in Him. So when the earth shatters, or the earth gives way, and the mountains be moved in the sea, not if, but when that happens, we can stand and not fear, because the Lord of hosts is with us. [00:17:42] (34 seconds)  #MoreThanConquerorsInChrist

The reason we approach sufferings these ways is not perspective, but the presence, the presence of God, he is with us. The psalmist in Psalm 46 does not declare, and I'll see you later. In the midst of the world falling apart, we're not going to fear because we just know God works all things out together for good. Does he? Yes. But he says we're not going to fear because the Lord of hosts is with us. He's with us in the suffering. He's with us in the trial. He's with us in the trouble. And if God is with us, then who can be against us? [00:20:55] (36 seconds)  #GodsOffensiveVictory

That is a very hope -filled passage. But it is a hope -filled passage not because we have just bought into some grander perspective. That is a hope -filled passage because God has redeemed us from our sin. He has saved us so that we are more than conquerors. in Christ, nothing's going to separate us from Him. It doesn't matter what type of calamity or trouble will befall your life today or tomorrow or the next day or any day after that because God is with you. And when God is with us, bring it. [00:22:36] (45 seconds)  #MissionBeyondTheWalls

But if God saw fit to bring that into my life today, I pray that I could stand exactly with the psalmist and say, but I'm not going to fear because the Lord of hosts is with me. And I know that because of what Christ did nothing can separate me from Him. No trouble, no difficulty. I am secure in the Lord. [00:23:37] (19 seconds)  #BattleBelongsToGod

It's not the softness of God that brings us into this new covenant of redemption in Christ. It's the strength of God that says, I'm going to go and I'm going to conquer my adversaries, the chief among all being death itself. So Christ goes to the cross, not just to make some soft and sappy appeal to people today, if you just believe in the cross. No, we're going to believe in the God who waged war on sin. He went to war against death and he won. He defeated it once and for all. [00:26:50] (30 seconds)

To kind of sum this whole thing up, if you want to walk out, and sometimes this helps me to grasp a concept. What Psalm 46 is doing for us, to invite us into this be still and know that I am God, what God is doing there effectively, guys, is he is saying, lay down your weapons. You're out here fighting this battle that is mine. It's David walking out in front of Goliath, not because he's got the best equipment, but because the battle is the Lord's. So be still and know that I am God is not just an invitation to some tranquil little moment of peace. Peace. To be still and know that I am God is God saying, step back. Let me show you what I'm up to. [00:34:51] (50 seconds)

And God says, I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. That is God saying, I am God. Not Goliath, not the Baals, not the Asherah, not anything else. I alone am God, step back and I will show myself. So we get to engage in a battle with that God. Not a wishful thinking, hopeful promise, crossing our fingers kind of God. But a God who says, the victory is mine. The Lord of hosts is with us. [00:35:41] (42 seconds)

``Courage to step into another day even when the ground beneath you shakes. Courage to get up and face tomorrow because the Lord of hosts commands the armies of heaven and earth. Comfort in the midst of the storm, knowing that his unshakable presence is your refuge, is your strength, and your very present help in time of trouble. And confidence knowing that God's supreme power will bring an end to every battle. Not just theoretically, but... But one day, finally, to everything, as he comes back. And we long for that return, and we have confidence in it. So that no matter what today holds, no matter what tomorrow holds, we will not fear if the Lord of hosts is with us. [00:36:58] (50 seconds)

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