The Fortress - Nature

Nature I will be exalted in the earth. Psalms 46:10 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/psa.46.10.NIVUK

Our daughter has sea legs. I think we can say that for sure. We were in the Algarve in Portugal on a spring Sunday, when most places were closed. We were on a cruise and, as anyone who has cruised before will tell you, cruise tours can be very over-priced. But there we were, stuck in a small town with little to do and with unreliable transport out to see other places. It seemed that we had a choice: either have a boring day or pay for an overpriced tour. It was while we were walking along the boardwalk that we saw a sign which gave us hope. It was advertising tours of the sea caves. We really wanted to do that, especially as the price was much lower than the cruise tour to the same place. So we looked around for a guide. Or a boat, as there were not so many left in the harbour. We found someone, took our places in the boat headed out. The sea wasn't too bad at first. But then, in a harbour it never is. Then we reached open sea, where the sea caves are. It was rough. Really rough. The spring tide was throwing us around like we were its toy. We were wrapped up in blankets to keep the stiff sea breeze away, feeling a little ill and clinging to the boat for dear life as it bounced its way through the surf around the caves. Except for one of us: my daughter. She had a really wide grin on her face. She was loving every minute! When we arrived back in the harbour, I asked her, "We were terrified! Why weren't you afraid?" "Because I knew the boatman wouldn't let us drown." she told me. "Anyway, it was just like riding a roller coaster." She knew the boatman wouldn't let us drown. There's a firm and unforgettable rebuke for an adult's lack of faith if ever I heard it. This psalm now turns its attention to some really fierce forces of nature: Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Psalms 46:2‭-‬3 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/psa.46.2-3.NIVUK

That is pretty dramatic! And also poignant as the earth had given way beneath their ancestor (Numbers 16:28-33). This seems to be a reference to forces of nature that are way beyond our comprehension or control. There are many, many Christians living in places that are disaster prone due to earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes, cyclones, volcanoes, tsunamis, El Niño and other natural phenomena who know precisely what this means. However, it also has a strong message to those of us who live in safer lands. The mountains were the place where the Israelites could run to for safety (Psalm 11:1; Ezekiel 7:16; Genesis 19:17; Matthew 24:16; Luke 21:21). The sea was viewed as a place of risk, danger, threat and ultimately death (Exodus 15:8-10; Psalms 107:23-29; Revelation 10:6-8, 12:12, 13:1, 16:3, 20:13). This is talking about our places of human refuge being destroyed by the one thing we fear the most. Is that not what has happened to us? We took refuge in our jobs, in our economy, in human nature, in science, in politics, in business, in the certainties of life and now pretty much every one of them has gone. You see, this is where Coronavirus has hit us badly. It's not just the killer virus that keeping us awake it night. No, it's the lack of certainty. We all had our mountains of refuge. Now they are rapidly eroding away. Yet there is hope in a beautiful image later on in this psalm: There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. Psalms 46:4 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/psa.46.4.NIVUK

This is a very interesting verse because Jerusalem doesn't have a river. In fact, its only water source was the Gihon spring. This can only refer to the New Jerusalem, the Heavenly City, which has a river, as described in Ezekiel 47:1-12. The effects of this river stand in complete contrast to the destructive picture of the sea: Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds – like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.’ Ezekiel 47:9‭-‬12 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/ezk.47.9-12.NIVUK

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:1‭-‬2 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/rev.22.1-2.NIVUK

A flow of water that makes salt water fresh, that brings life where there was none, that waters trees which bring healing. What a picture! God takes a destructive, negative force and uses to bring blessing and healing! I want to ask you a question: can God do this with whatever you are going through now? Can He turn your negative situation into a resounding positive? The Bible states firmly that He can work every situation for our good (Romans 8:28). The big question is: will you let Him? Are you willing to let Him? Or are you too busy worrying, fretting and complaining to take shelter in Him?