Fall Devotional

I’m Tania and together with my husband I have been serving the Lord for many years, leading a church in the city of Palermo.

Today I paused to read Psalm 46 and realized how God encourages His people by making it clear: If He is for us, we have nothing to fear!

Psalm 46:1-11 (KJV) “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: He uttered his voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the LORD , What desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.”

The Psalm states: “God is […] A very present help in trouble”. The term «always» reassures us of God’s constancy for His people. If God is always for us and with us, then we have nothing to fear! Humanly we are not “always ready,” but God, on the other hand, is. To God nothing escapes, He is always vigilant.

Our emotions can sometimes mislead us, and lead us to think that God is not interested in our lives, but He is not! God’s constancy is not bound by my understanding of His love, my emotions, my feelings or my rationality. God is not far away; He is always close to us. God is for us!

The Sons of Korah wrote this Psalm to encourage the people not to fear, not only enemies, but also natural events: the earth being shaken, the mountains shaking, the seas swelling. In Matthew we find written that Jesus said:

Matthew 28:20 (KJV) “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Jesus’ words continue to reassure us that God is for us, whatever the circumstances. In today’s day and age, the earth is truly unsettled. Tsunamis and hurricanes are causing much damage and death, because everything is speaking to us about the imminent return of Christ. Church, Jesus is coming back!

People out there are afraid and trembling, but this happens because they do not know what God is for us. The phrase “if God is for us” in fact speaks to us about APPEARANCE. We must be sure to whom we belong. Just as the sons of Korah felt strongly that they belonged to God’s people and to God-so much so that they praised and sang because they knew God was for them-the same way it is for us today: we find God for us because we belong to Him!

We could be good religious people but that would not assure us that we belong to God. We can say that we are among those who belong to the Lord wholeheartedly because we have made Him the most important person in our lives. This conscious belonging leads us to say, as the Apostle Paul said:

Galatians 2:20 (KJV) “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

The story of Joseph, son of Jacob, comes to mind. In all the situations he faced (the hatred he received from his brothers, being sold to the Ishmaelites, being enslaved in Egypt, and being unjustly imprisoned) God had His “BUT…” ready for him that would turn everything upside down! Yes, because if God had not been for Joseph, his whole story would have ended like this: “He remained a slave!”

But… it was not so! God did not leave him in that plight. On the contrary! From those very hardships Scripture shows us that God showed His favor toward him, because Joseph belonged to the Lord and trusted His God. That is precisely why we can say with full certainty: “God was for Joseph.”

Many times in my past, I found myself in the condition of being able to die. When I was young I suffered five robberies, and in each of them I always had a gun pointed at me. I make no secret that in those moments I thought that my life would end. I felt like I was living someone else’s experience. The first three times I did not yet know the Lord. In fact, the fear was so great that my heart petrified each time and the terror had absolute control over me. I always said to myself: “Tania, it’s over for you!” The other two times, however, I had met the Lord and experienced that despite the fear, a supernatural peace had protected my mind and heart; but not only on that occasion!

So many other times God has escaped me from death. Our common enemy has been trying with me since I was a child. He wanted to take away my voice but more importantly my life. I had a fatal accident and, during the pandemic, I contracted Covi-19, getting to 82% oxygenation. BUT… I too, like Joseph, today can say that God has been for me!

Yes, because it is when you have such experiences that your heart finds the courage to make the same statement as Paul, who wrote to the Romans:

Romans 8:31 (KJV) ‘What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? ‘

Paul had in him this wonderful hope, indeed certainty: God was for him! He had experienced this on so many occasions that this certainty had become his winning weapon against the enemy, and it must be ours as well. All the discouraging situations we may go through in life should not make us lose the certainty that God is for us. Many times, instead, those very situations will serve us for teaching and for our spiritual growth, causing us to experience, just as Paul did, that our certainty in God’s intervention will be the winning weapon against the enemy’s doubts and the tool for coming out of difficulties.

David, for example, faced the giant in front of him. We, too, will face our giants of various shapes and aspects every day. You are probably thinking: «We are in dark and difficult times» and I say: «Yes, of course, like many others throughout history, but there is a light shining in the darkness. That is the light of Faith in the Lord that makes us say at all times, “God is for us”». And it is precisely because of that light that, just like David, we want to keep our certainty firm and see God act on our behalf. David’s experiences, in response to his firm decision to trust in the Lord, led him to write Psalm 124, which is a valuable lesson for us to remember God’s constancy and faithfulness. For like the people of Israel, we too must awaken our spiritual senses to be able to say:

Psalm 124:1 (KJV) “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;”

The Lord has made wonderful promises to us, and today he is renewing them once again for your life. In Isaiah it is written:

Isaiah 41:10 (KJV) “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

Isaiah 43:2-3 (KJV) “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.”

In the midst of the dangerous situations, the sons of Kore (in Psalm 46) already experienced peace and assurance that God would be with them, and because of this, they will be the ones to write and encourage the people saying that:

Psalm 46:4-5 (KJV) “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.”

That is why I say to you, BE FAITHFUL! Be like the sons of Kore, like Joseph, like David and like Paul. Place your life in God’s hands and you too will experience that God, who is Sovereign over the whole Universe, desires to be for you too!