When you're going through a rough season or a situation you're unsure to how to handle, you always want shelter and strength. So from Psalm chapter 46 verse 1 through 3, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help and trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult.”

All around us the world seems to be falling apart. We see it day in and day out, watching the news, we can feel overwhelmed by the number of heartbreaking things happening around the world. Even closer to home there is pain, families in distress, financial burdens, the death of loved ones, and the list goes on and on.

The psalmist wasn't writing this psalm in blissful ignorance. He knew the world is full of sorrow, but he held strong to the promise that he had seen that God is our shelter and strength, always ready to help. In our situation, God is there. He wants to help and will help no matter what is happening in or to us. He is our shelter. As the storms rage around us and even on us, he is still there sheltering us. What a great reassurance to know that God is always sheltering and protecting us, no matter the situation or the difficulty that you're going through. It may not seem it at the time, but he's there. Even in this moment, I thank God for the shelter and strength that he gave while I was going through situations with my job. The stress, the worries and anxieties I was dealing with day in and day out, God helped me get through it. He gave me the courage. He gave me the wisdom and he gave me the strength, but he also sheltered me. He gave me protection. It's in that I was able to get through those hard times.

Let me finish out with a prayer for all of us. God, I need your shelter and strength. The pressures of today seem to overwhelm my hope. Reveal your strength and may my hope not fade even as the world roars around me. In your precious name we pray. Amen.