You Are Not Alone

This weekly column is intended to find positive, insightful, or informative posts on social media. Not everything is negative. There is a lot in which to find encouragement.

In fact, there is so much good stuff, it’s difficult to pick one post to feature each week. Today’s post from the Mindful Christianity page speaks to me. And hopefully you will find it helpful, as well as our comments from Psalm 46.

The world feels heavy right now.
Uncertainty. Crisis. Change.
Even the bravest can feel shaken.
Many of us carry quiet fears
about the future.

Fear is human.
Faith is our anchor

“God is our refuge and
strength, an ever-present help
in trouble. Therefore we will
not fear…”
–Psalm 46:1-2

Let fear remind you where your
peace comes from. You are held.
You are not alone.

This post and the Psalm remind us where our help and hope is found when we’re fearful. Hurting. Anxious. And feeling the weight of life’s burdens.

1) God is our refuge.

A refuge is a place of safety and security from danger. We can find shelter in God in times of trouble, trial and temptation. When heartache overwhelms us like a flood God’s love, mercy and goodness are a guard to our spirits. They sustain us and offer sanctuary in a sinful world. A world with senseless evil and unmitigated malice.

(2) God is Our Strength.

We need not only refuge for shelter and safety, but strength to take up life’s tasks once the storm has passed.

When we experience sickness and sorrow in our lives, it is debilitating. When death invades our home, it can drain our energy and emotion. It leaves us empty. Hollow. And hurt. In times like that we need mental, emotional and physical strength. We need spiritual strength.

To people who were enduring an extreme hardship, God made this promise through his prophet: “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isa 41:10)

(3) God Is Our Help

God will not fail us when we need him. The Psalmist emphasized this fact when he wrote. God is our Help. Our present help. Our very present help.

Friends may forsake us. Family may neglect us. But God is there to protect us. Encourage us. Help us. An unknown poet put it this way:

Speak to Him, thou, for He heareth
And spirit with spirit can meet.
Closer is He than breathing.
And nearer than hands and feet.

God’s help literally reached to earth from heaven when He sent Jesus to die for our sins. Make no mistake, God loves you. Cares for you. And desires to help you.

Whatever challenge you are facing, ailment you are suffering, or hurt that you are enduring, know that God is there. He will sustain you. Protect you. And bear you through your veil of tears.

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman