my very present help

Seeking out a quiet moment, a quiet corner in the bustling hotel lobby for  reflection.  Desiring not only quiet for my ears, but a quiet for my heart as  well.  The past month has seemed in many ways like a bad dream.  Trouble upon trouble seemed to be heaped upon those we love.

Sorrows.  Trials.  Troubles.  The Word is full of them.  Life is full of  them.  Thankfully, God is our refuge.  God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble.  Psalm 46:1  Aw.... I breathe deep and feel
relieved.  He is my help in trouble.  Although, when I continue reading the next  two verses they do not seem at first to comfort.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the
mountains tremble at its swelling.

No promises of the trouble-free life I want there.  In fact its an extreme  situation - a calamity - the psalmist offers in illustration.  Though the earth give way...

There's been more than once when I felt like the earth of my life was giving  way: husband's years of illness and hospital visits, the crushing diagnosis of  infertility, parents' divorce, death of a dear friend.  Some bad theology and a little bit of life can swallow you up in the giving way of life's earth.

However, what I found as I sifted through the Word  in the midst of my complete sense of loss as hardships collided - there was God.  There He was not leaving.  There He was not forsaking.  There He was giving purpose to my pain.  There He was promising that He indeed was enough.  

It felt strange to me as I began to find comfort in His promise of troubles.  I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.  In the  world, you will have tribulation.  But take heart, I have overcome the world.  (John 16:33) His promise of goodness (followed by a list of hardships) gave me hope.  He who did not spare His own Son but gave him up for us all, how
will he not also with him graciously give us all things?( Romans 8:32)  His instructions to look toward eternity started to take root and grow in my heart. 
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of  glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen  For the things that are seen are transient, but the  things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17,18)  

It was amazing to me that after years of worry, anger, sadness over our own continued troubles, I began to experience real freedom by focusing on Him and
trusting in Him.  As He worked miracle after miracle in my heart, my life exploded; and I began to experience what I would call an abundant life.

The kind of life where the rivers of living water flow freely from "your  belly" and not from simple head knowledge.  The kind of life where the belief that ALL things being created for Him sustains a trust in Him that defies natural human inclination.   

The kind of life where troubles are a key to a door to God.  The gift of understanding my dependence on God coupled with His sustaining grace has been invaluable as His answer continues to be a painful "wait" in areas of our lives.  I know Him better and long for Him more than ever before.  The trials remind me  that this life is not my home and that the promise of eternity holds the promise  of a pain-free life.  

Reading the rest of that Psalm with this wholehearted trust in Him is then  very reassuring. Now I can see the whole of it, "Let the worst come, and I will be your refuge and your very present help in that trouble." 

And that, indeed,  is comforting.