The Ebb and Flow of Our Confidence

There’s a usual rhythm to our confidence in God - at times it waxes, at times it wanes. The old saints talked about this as there being seasons of consolation and seasons of desolation - and that God is in both of them. No doubt you’ve had seasons of feeling close to God and seasons of feeling far from God. We all have.

Part of what makes Psalm 46 so endearing for us is that this one prayer captures the ebb and flow of our own spiritual confidence so clearly. As you read through these verses - can’t you feel the anxiety rising and falling, back and forth through them?

Comfort: We will not fear. - Psalm 46:1

Crisis: The mountains fall into the heart of the sea. - Psalm 46:2

Comfort: There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God.  - Ps 46:4

Crisis: Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall.  - Psalm 46:6

Comfort: The God of Jacob is our fortress. - Psalm 46:7

Crisis: …the desolations he has brought to the earth.  - Psalm 46:8

Comfort: Be still and know that I am God.  - Psalm 46:10

Perhaps one of these questions would be a helpful step into embracing where you are in the ebb and flow right now:

• If you had to summarize in one sentence the crisis you are facing now, what would it be?

• If you were to summarize the comfort you are feeling right now, what image would you use?