Episode 115 – Unshaken. 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5

Speaker 1 (00:02):

It is time for a pause in your day. Welcome to a podcast where we press the pause button on our busy lives for a few moments, and we focus on God’s word With Sharon and Nicole. We pray this is a time of refreshing for you. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries.

Nicole (00:28):

Welcome to the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast. This is episode 115, Unshaken. Sharon, this is an intriguing title. Why did you choose it?

Sharon (00:38):

Well, because we live in shaky times, so uncertain, it sometimes seems like there’s no place to stand that is really solid beneath our feet. We really have very little control as humans, much as we like to think otherwise. For example, we can feel financially secure, but we could have a bank failure. Or we’re an earthquake away from being homeless. You know? We can feel healthy and athletic, but at any moment we could lose our health. That also goes for our people. We could lose our people. (Nicole: I know) Or they could be unhealthy. We know that life is fragile. So even counting on good people doesn’t guarantee they’ll always be there. Right. (That’s true) It just won’t. It won’t. So the only way to be unshaken is to be with the one unshakeable place to stand. And that’s with Christ. And that’s what we’re gonna talk about today. So, but first, let’s talk about shaking. Have you ever been in an earthquake?

Nicole (01:36):

You know, once there was one in New Hampshire, back when I was a teenager. I had woken up and my room was, was shaking, like trembling, and it was such a deep rumbling shake. It was interesting. But I thought it was a really large truck going by slowly. But it was longer than a truck would go by. And I remember finding out later that, oh, New Hampshire had an earthquake. I was like, what? I felt that.

Sharon (01:57):

Yes, yes. Yes. I was there for that one too. Yeah. And our, we had a I think, a clay interior to our chimney. And there was this huge ker thunk and the clay in the chimney came down.

Nicole (02:10):

Oh no. Oh, funny.

Sharon (02:11):

Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole (02:12):

We had nothing fall off shelves or anything. It was rather, you know, for our first earthquake, it was thankfully very mild. I’m sure other parts of the world are chuckling at our earthquake.

Sharon (02:23):

Yeah. Pretty mild. Pretty mild. I can’t imagine the shaking to the degree that the earth is splitting open and I mean, where do you put your feet? Right? The closest I can come to it is actually Meniere’s Disease, the disease that I have, because when I have what they call an episode or a seizure, there’s a little hum that starts in my ear and spreads across my sort of whole face. And it’s my warning. And then, oh, baby, I’m not just spinning, you know, vertigo. There’s no horizon. It’s like I’m walking, if I try to walk, which I don’t anymore, because then I throw up. It’s like you’re on a ship, you know, there’s no up and down. It’s unbelievable. There’s nothing stable. Nothing. So, I’ve learned that the only way to survive my little Meniere’s earthquakes is to find a focal point. And I mean, the wall’s moving too, but I find a spot on the wall and breathe deeply and slowly and pray and then slowly things settle. So I kind of have earthquakes. But they’re only in my brain. Everyone else is like, we’re fine. Right.

Nicole (03:36):

Sharon’s own personal earth earthquake.

Sharon (03:37):

My own personal earthquake. So.

Nicole (03:39):

Lucky you.

Sharon (03:41):

But Oh my goodness. But it does make me realize just how awful it would be to be in one. And it’s hard to stay unshaken when you don’t have a horizon. It really is.

Nicole (03:53):

Yeah, that’d be really bizarre.

Sharon (03:54):

So, okay. Today we are going to learn more about being unshaken, even when our life is tilting crazily off center, because we could be unshaken by circumstance too. Last week, Paul talked about how much he wanted to visit with this new little church again to make sure they were okay after all the persecution they were experiencing. And we discovered that Satan had kept him from coming. That was sobering. Yeah. Well, we’re gonna continue with this train of thought today. Our passage is a short one. It’s 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5. So just five verses. Can you start us off with verse one, Nicole?

Nicole (04:28):

That I can. Verse one, “Finally when we could stand it no longer, we decided to stay alone in Athens.”

Sharon (04:36):

“And we sent Timothy to visit you.” Evidently Timothy could come.

Nicole (04:39):

Yeah. It’s interesting.

Sharon (04:40):

“He is our brother and God’s coworker in proclaiming the good news of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith.”

Nicole (04:49):

“And to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through. But you know that we were destined for such troubles.”

Sharon (04:55):

“Even while we were with you we warned you that troubles would soon come. And they did. As you well know.”

Nicole (05:02):

“That is why when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you, and that our work had been useless.” So this was really weighing on him.

Sharon (05:15):

I know. And you know, this wasn’t his only church. He was writing to other churches too. Paul spent a ton of time in prayer, I’m sure.

Nicole (05:23):

Wow.

Sharon (05:23):

He had a lot of babies. Right? Baby Christians. So.

Nicole (05:24):

Yeah, little baby churches.

Sharon (05:26):

Okay. Well, let’s examine each verse one at a time. And you get to start with verse one.

Nicole (05:32):

All right. I’ll read it again. It says, “Finally when we could stand at no longer, we decided to stay alone in Athens.” So from what I can gather, they decided to stay in Athens.

Sharon (05:43):

Brilliant!

Nicole (05:43):

No, I actually did— this verse was so deep. No, I did actually look it up because I wanted to see what that meant. So I guess with that church, there was some confusion concerning when Paul would return. So maybe they were really anxious. Like, where’s Paul? He was supposed to be here last week. He hasn’t come yet. So I was just trying to imagine like if we had booked a good speaker that we loved, or a traveling pastor and they didn’t show up, we would be really concerned for them.

Sharon (06:07):

That’s so true.

Nicole (06:08):

We’re like, Hey, we had this conference planned. Where’s the speaker?

Sharon (06:11):

True.

Nicole (06:12):

And we can find out easier than they could have back then.

Sharon (06:14):

Oh, by far.

Nicole (06:16):

Yeah. A quick text message or, you know, track ’em on your cell phone. So I think, you know, maybe this was, he was trying to tell them quickly, I’m okay, or whatever it was, there was some sort of— you know, lack of communication as to where he was.

Sharon (06:30):

That’s exactly it. And you know, you’re right. There was no instant communication at all. Letters took time.

Nicole (06:35):

Yeah, they did.

Sharon (06:36):

So they’re like, where is Paul? Is he coming back?

Nicole (06:38):

Yeah. And I think how that you would feel if you couldn’t tell someone that you’re okay or why you were being prevented and like, not just ’cause like, oh, I just didn’t care anymore. So.

Sharon (06:46):

Right.

Nicole (06:46):

So it seems like he was really burdened with trying to get to them. Yeah. So that was kind of interesting.

Sharon (06:51):

Yeah, that was, and you did a good job with that.

Nicole (06:54):

Thank you.

Sharon (06:54):

I learned that he stayed in Athens. So, okay. So he says, and we sent Timothy to visit you. So he stayed alone. Or with the we, I’m like, was there somebody else with him? Maybe.

Nicole (07:06):

Well, that’s what I was wondering. ’cause they said we, and then he sent Timothy. So I’m not sure. That part was confusing. I couldn’t figure that out.

Sharon (07:11):

Yeah. There might’ve been a couple of people with him, but “We sent Timothy to visit you. He is our brother and God’s coworker in proclaiming the good news of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith.” I love Paul’s heart, ’cause if he was sick, and we talked last week about maybe Paul was prevented by illness from travel, he might’ve liked Timothy to stay with him. Timothy was like a son to him. You know, I have a hard time letting go of my daughters, even though they’re fully grown women. He’s like, do you have to go home now?

Nicole (07:41):

I know.

Sharon (07:42):

Why don’t you stay and visit me a little longer. So he was very selfless. He’s like, I can’t go. I’ve tried and tried. I can’t, will you go, will you please go? And then he sends Timothy instead. So I thought that was a sweet sacrifice, especially if Paul was in a troubled time himself. But what he wanted more than anything was to strengthen and encourage. So I thought those were two good goals for me to think about. Do I strengthen others in their faith? Not just general strengthen, like eat your Wheaties.

Nicole (08:12):

Right.

Sharon (08:12):

Right? Or whatever you eat nowadays, your protein bar. Wheaties is kind of old school there. But anyways, it’s strengthen in your faith and encourage you in your faith. That’s what you know. So anyways, Paul finds a way around the fact that he can’t get there and sends Timothy.

Nicole (08:30):

Yeah. That’s good, before I move on to my verse, to strengthen you, and not to get you out of your trouble or to ease your discomfort, but to strengthen, encourage you in your faith.

Sharon (08:38):

I know.

Nicole (08:39):

That’s a good point. Ooh.

Sharon (08:40):

That’s right. He’s not giving them strategic ways to, to

Nicole (08:43):

Avoid the pain and suffering.

Sharon (08:44):

To avoid the pain. No.

Nicole (08:46):

Yeah. Oh, that’s harder.

Sharon (08:46):

Allow me to help you as you suffer.

Nicole (08:49):

Right? Hmm.

Sharon (08:50):

Yeah.

Nicole (08:50):

A good point to ponder

Sharon (08:52):

Mm-hmm. It is.

Nicole (08:53):

So verse three, “And to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through. But you know, that we are destined for such troubles.” So I really appreciate Paul’s honesty here. I feel like from the beginning, he clearly told them that we are Christians and we have this amazing hope in Jesus, but we are not going to scoot through this life scot-free. We’re going to have troubles.

Sharon (09:14):

Right.

Nicole (09:15):

So the fact that he was honest and upfront in the beginning and didn’t kinda like get ’em all to Jesus, get ’em revved up and then, oh, by the way, you might suffer, maybe, kind of someday.

Sharon (09:25):

Yep. Now that I’ve hooked you, let me tell you the bad part. Right.

Nicole (09:26):

Now that we got you here.

Sharon (09:27):

The fine print.

Nicole (09:28):

Exactly. He seems like he was upfront and you know, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows right away. (Sharon: Yes) So it was good that he was honest and I think, I don’t always wanna start with that when I’m witnessing to people like, Hey, come to Jesus. Sometimes it’s really hard.

Sharon (09:43):

It doesn’t sound like a good selling point. Does it? No.

Nicole (09:46):

No. And you wanna wait till later. But he was honest with them.

Sharon (09:49):

Right from the start.

Nicole (09:49):

And maybe that’s what helped them stay the course,

Sharon (09:52):

I think so.

Nicole (09:53):

Because it wasn’t such a surprise. Like, are we doing it wrong? ‘Cause this is really hard all of a sudden.

Sharon (09:57):

And it makes the commitment genuine.

Nicole (09:59):

True.

Sharon (09:59):

You know, if you are just out for the next big thrill are you gonna sign up for a religion that people are gonna persecute you for? I think not.

Nicole (10:07):

You wouldn’t last very long.

Sharon (10:09):

No. So it makes them count the cost before they come to Christ.

Nicole (10:13):

Yeah. It makes sure it’s a true, a true commitment, a true heart conversion.

Sharon (10:16):

Right. Do you believe that he really is God of the universe? Do you believe that he truly is the one that can take away your sin? Do you believe that you really are going to enter heaven someday? And then the suffering is less, you know? But you’ve gotta choose for the right reasons.

Nicole (10:33):

Yes. Yeah.

Sharon (10:33):

And I think too often we wanna manipulate people, you know, like selling a product.

Nicole (10:39):

Yeah, yeah. No, for sure.

Sharon (10:41):

And that’s not right. So, okay. Verse four, “Even while we were with you, we warned you that troubles would soon come and they did, as you well know.” Basically we told you so. There we go. It’s gotta be part of that gospel message.

Nicole (10:57):

Yeah. And here it is.

Sharon (10:59):

Yeah. It’s interesting to me too, kind of going back to your verse as well, where keeping them from being shaken by the troubles, I oftentimes wanna fix people in their troubles, you know what I mean? Make it better. Oh, stop crying. You know? It’s making me uncomfortable that you’re sad. Which is really mean, because sometimes people need to be sad.

Nicole (11:19):

They do. Yeah.

Sharon (11:20):

Yeah. I can remember my daughter saying to me at one point, I know mom. I know. Can you just let me be sad for a minute? I’m thinking, I just tried to make her sound happy so I wouldn’t ache with her. And that is selfish.

Nicole (11:35):

I know. It’s hard not to do that. I find I try to do that too.

Sharon (11:37):

Oh my goodness. It’s like,

Nicole (11:38):

Oh, don’t be sad. Let’s think of something happy instead.

Sharon (11:41):

Yeah. Yeah. Let’s cheer up because I’m sad when you’re sad. And I don’t wanna be sad. I mean, you know, you think you’re doing it for them, but there’s a little bit of selfishness in it. I think, for me anyways, where I’m doing it for me, I would rather be happy. And I’m happier when my children are happy. So hey, be happy.

Nicole (11:57):

Yes. It’s hard to watch people suffer. You just want ’em to get through the suffering part. Like learn the lesson quick and get to the good.

Sharon (12:01):

Yep, yep, yep, yep.

Nicole (12:03):

Green pastures again.

Sharon (12:05):

I can remember Elizabeth Elliot saying in ‘A Path Through Suffering’, which is a book she wrote, because boy oh boy, did she know suffering? The title is A Path through Suffering. You try to avoid it, it’s gonna come back and bite you. You’ve got to walk through it. And the best gift we give people is what Paul is doing. We’ll encourage you, we’ll strengthen you to walk through it. Yeah. We aren’t gonna try to make it go away until it’s been dealt with.

Nicole (12:32):

That’s really good.

Sharon (12:33):

So, wow. Alright. Your turn for verse five.

Nicole (12:36):

Oh yes. Okay. “That is why when I could bear it no longer. I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you and that our work had been useless.” Paul’s heart again, goodness, he really loved and cared so deeply. This was weighing on him. You know, I think he was wondering, I dunno if he was worried or just concerned for them, but enough that he was like, Timothy, you gotta go find out. Like, yeah. Did Satan get to them? Are they okay? Are they strong in their faith? And you had mentioned earlier, we don’t know what it was that kept him from going, but if he was terribly ill or afraid of being, injured or hurt if people were, you know, rioting against him, to send away a close friend. Like that was a big sacrifice.

Sharon (13:20):

It was a huge sacrifice.

Nicole (13:21):

But he was that concerned for them.

Sharon (13:22):

Yes.

Nicole (13:23):

Timothy, you’ve gotta find out if they’re doing okay.

Sharon (13:25):

Yeah. Yeah. They need to see one of us.

Nicole (13:27):

Yes. Let them know. So I just think that was really, you know, was it dangerous for Timothy? So I think it was really good that, again, his heart, he just was so concerned.

Sharon (13:37):

I know. And these are people he knew for less than three months, we think.

Nicole (13:41):

Oh, that’s right.

Sharon (13:42):

This is stunning. I mean, Paul loved deeply. He really, really did. And it’s a good lesson to me. You know, I don’t just get to love the best friend since fourth grade.

Nicole (13:54):

Right.

Sharon (13:55):

I’ve gotta love the new lady at church too.

Nicole (13:57):

Yeah, exactly. And there’s room for that deep love.

Sharon (13:59):

Yes. God gives it to us.

Nicole (14:02):

Yes.

Sharon (14:02):

If we spend time with the God of love, he fills us up and we can flow it out.

Nicole (14:07):

Yeah. And that’s good.

Sharon (14:08):

That’s so good. Alright, time to go to our three questions. So I’m gonna do my favorite verse first this time. And I chose verse two.

Nicole (14:17):

Okay. Good. Different verse.

Sharon (14:19):

Oh, you picked a different verse? It’s always fun to guess.

Nicole (14:22):

It is.

Sharon (14:22):

I love not knowing.

Nicole (14:23):

I know!

Sharon (14:23):

It makes it more interesting.

Sharon (14:27):

So verse two, “And we sent Timothy to visit you. He is our brother and God’s coworker in proclaiming the good news of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith.” And I chose it because of the strengthen and encourage when faith is weak, especially in troubled times. This is a charge to me. I need to strengthen and encourage in the faith. And I need to remember that because I can sound like some secular self-help person sometimes. Do you know what I mean?

Nicole (14:56):

Yeah. Oh yeah.

Sharon (14:56):

You’re talking to someone and they’ve got a problem and I’ve got a practical answer that doesn’t include Christ. And it’s okay to be practical, you know? You do need to cook your chicken for so long? Right?

Nicole (15:06):

So you don’t get salmonella. Right. Yeah.

Sharon (15:10):

I don’t have to like toss in Jesus with the cooking instructions necessarily, but a lot of times I should be bringing in their faith when I don’t. And it just was a reminder to me. So I really liked that verse.

Nicole (15:24):

Oh, that’s good.

Sharon (15:24):

And you chose a different one.

Nicole (15:26):

I did.

Sharon (15:26):

With only five verses.

Nicole (15:28):

I know. I thought that was pretty funny. So I did verse four, “Even while we were with you, we warned you that troubles would soon come and they did, as you well know.” There felt like a lot in that verse that was good for me to think on. They were with them. They warned them the troubles would come. So they were honest with what was the hard parts of the gospel and the hard parts of following Christ. It wasn’t all just, ’cause like you said, I feel like I’m guilty sometimes of selling a product. Like, oh, Jesus is great that he’s with me and he’s changed me, but also I’ve had to struggle through a lot of things with Jesus. So I like that he was honest. And then he said, and they did, as you well know, there was this like empathy or compassion in that like, as you well know. Like, you know.

Sharon (16:10):

Yes. I know you’re suffering.

Nicole (16:13):

Yes. You’ve already experienced them.

Sharon (16:14):

Right.

Nicole (16:14):

And I see that.

Sharon (16:15):

Right.

Nicole (16:15):

And I think that was, I just thought that verse was really beautiful, the way that he reminded them, that he warned them and that they did have troubles and that he he saw them in their troubles too.

Sharon (16:24):

Exactly. And as a mom, your children need to see that. That—well, they do, I’m sure because troubles come. Right. But I think the way you handle them, you know, as a mom is, you know, yes, troubles come to Christians too.

Nicole (16:38):

Exactly.

Sharon (16:38):

We are not exempt. If they see that in the home, when they go out into the world and they have troubles. As I told you, honey, troubles will come.

Nicole (16:47):

And as you saw too, I think that’s so important.

Sharon (16:50):

Yeah. I think I failed a little bit in that because I tried to fix everything for my kids so much, to kind of soften their way.

Nicole (16:58):

Oh yeah.

Sharon (16:58):

And, you know, I think that my girls both did struggle a bit when they got out into the quote real world where there wasn’t a mama to fix their stuff, you know?

Nicole (17:06):

Right, right.

Sharon (17:07):

But I think it’s important for even children to know that when you choose Christ you choose the truth. But part of that truth is you will suffer. But of course, if you don’t choose Christ, you suffer as well.

Nicole (17:21):

Right.

Sharon (17:22):

So, take your pick. Do you wanna suffer with a God who loves you, comforts you, and will give you eternal life. Or you wanna suffer without him?

Nicole (17:28):

Yep. Either way is hard. Choose your hard.

Sharon (17:30):

Choose your heart. That’s right. That’s right. Oh, that’s so good. All right. Okay. So what did we learn from God from this passage? You get to do that one first.

Nicole (17:41):

Okay. The thing that I got from this passage was that God continues the good work in us despite troubles. Despite hardship, even through all of this, they were still standing firm in their faith. Even though they were going through trials. So like, God can still, it feels sometimes in the valleys like, oh, this is just something to get through. Like a path through suffering, as quick as I can get through it, fix it. Get to the mountaintops to experience all the things with Christ. But we grow in suffering, sometimes more.

Sharon (18:12):

We do. Our faith is strengthened.

Nicole (18:14):

And I hate to acknowledge it. Yes. But to sit in that suffering with God and let him do the work he needs to in my heart and not just try to get through it.

Sharon (18:21):

Right. Right. And say, teach me. Teach me right where I am. Or one of my hardest things to say, but I try to say it. I receive this. Mm. I receive what you have obviously allowed. I’m asking you to take it away, but I’m receiving it too, because you’ve allowed it.

Nicole (18:36):

Right. Yeah.

Sharon (18:36):

Yeah. That’s so good. The other thing that I learned thinking about the Unshaken theme. Oh yeah. The good news of Christ is the rock solid place that sustains me in the troubled times. That’s my rock right there. Jesus died for my sins. Jesus never leaves me nor forsakes me. Jesus takes the worst things in my life and somehow brings good from them. That rock solid gospel message is my rock. No, what is it? All other things are

Speaker 2 (19:10):

All other ground is sinking sand.

Sharon (19:11):

Sand. Thank you.

Nicole (19:13):

On Christ the solid rock I stand,

Sharon (19:15):

All other ground is sinking sand.

Nicole (19:16):

Yes.

Sharon (19:17):

So standing on the rock of the good news of Christ and Jesus himself is my unshaken place.

Nicole (19:22):

Oh, I love that.

Sharon (19:23):

Yeah. So what did we learn about living wisely in troubled times, Nicole? Because we have our own troubles right here.

Nicole (19:31):

Yes, we do. For number one, troubled times will come.

Sharon (19:35):

There you go. If that hasn’t been made clear it ought to have been.

Nicole (19:38):

Right. In case you missed it they will come, and not to be surprised by them. And if we just keep looking to God and holding onto that to that faith in him that we first came to him with. Like, I trust you, God, I trust you with my life, no matter what my life path looks like. You’ve still got me.

Sharon (19:56):

Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Beautiful. Beautiful. I had that too when I wrote down, Expect trouble. Live sacrificially. And then cling to the gospel. Which strengthens faith.

Nicole (20:07):

It’s really the only thing we can do is cling to that rock with all that’s in us. (Sharon: Yes) When the earthquakes come, when the big windy storms come. (Yes) Hold onto that rock.

Sharon (20:15):

Hold onto that rock.

Nicole (20:16):

Flat. You put your fingers in the crevices and hold on.

Sharon (20:19):

Yes, yes. Well, it’s funny that you say, when the earthquakes come, because I chose to close out this podcast with a Psalm about earthquakes.

Nicole (20:27):

Yay. That’s funny.

Sharon (20:29):

Yay! It’s Psalm 46, and I’ve shared this before in a podcast, but, I was part of Moms in Prayer when 9-11 occurred and the World Trade Towers fell down and I was having a Moms in Prayer meeting at my house for Portsmouth Christian Academy, the school where my husband taught. And we were praying, and I never answered the phone, ever when we’re in the middle of prayer.

Nicole (20:53):

Right.

Sharon (20:54):

The phone rang and I answered it, which was the most bizarre thing. That was God. It was.

Nicole (20:58):

I can’t even imagine you doing that. That’s why I’m like, that’s so weird.

Sharon (21:01):

So weird. It had to be the Holy Spirit making me do it. It was my Aunt Nancy saying, turn on the tv ’cause the first tower had fallen. So we did, we stopped praying. We went and we turned on the tv. We saw the second tower. We saw it. You know?

Nicole (21:17):

Yeah. Oh yeah.

Sharon (21:17):

And then of course, we’re mothers. Where do we wanna be? At Portsmouth Christian Academy where our children are. Right. So off we go and we go to the principal and the principals. ’cause there were, you know, two. But anyways, we went and we said, we’re here, we’re moms in prayer. ’cause they all liked us there ’cause we prayed for them. Right? How can we help? And that’s when we found out that, you know, two of our students lost their daddy on one of the planes. So there was crying, there was wailing. And and they said, go and pray with these kids. And I felt so inadequate. Nicole, what do you say? One of their classmates just lost their daddy. And we don’t know if, you know, World War III is on it’s way in. It was a very frightening time. And God said Psalm 46. And this psalm has meant so much to me because, you know, when you read it in good times, it’s still good.

Nicole (22:11):

Good. Right.

Sharon (22:12):

But when you read it, when the mountains are falling into the sea. It’ steadied me. It helped me be unshaken. So I just thought this would be, this is my Unshaken Psalm basically.

Nicole (22:23):

Yeah. Oh, I love that.

Sharon (22:24):

So why don’t you start with verse one. Let us just celebrate the one sure place in a shaken world.

Nicole (22:33):

“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.”

Sharon (22:38):

“So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.”

Nicole (22:44):

“Let the oceans roar and foam, let the mountains tremble as the waters surge.”

Sharon (22:50):

Yes. And that’s—

Nicole (22:52):

That’s that Selah pause. Yes.

Sharon (22:53):

Yes. It’s a Selah pause, despite the fact that the Living Translation says Interludes.

Nicole (22:57):

I looked at it, I’m like, Interlude, I think that must be Selah.

Sharon (23:01):

It’s Selah. They changed my word on me.

Nicole (23:03):

Anyway.

Sharon (23:04):

So, okay. So this first three verses is basically, this is where we go, even when mountains fall into the sea or the World Trade towers crumble into dust. God is the refuge and strength. Then God’s gonna bring us in these next few verses to the eternal city that is unshaken. So I’ll start with verse four. And so we’ve completely changed topics, here we go. “A river brings joy to the city of our God. The sacred home of the most high.”

Nicole (23:34):

“God dwells in that city. It cannot be destroyed. From the very break of day, God will protect it.”

Sharon (23:41):

“The nations are in chaos and their kingdoms crumble. God’s voice thunders and the earth melts.”

Nicole (23:48):

“The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us. The God of Israel is our fortress. Selah.”

Sharon (23:55):

Yeah. Isn’t that something?

Nicole (23:56):

That’s so cool.

Sharon (23:57):

That there is a city that is standing. And nothing will bring it down.

Nicole (24:02):

It cannot be destroyed. That’s really amazing.

Sharon (24:05):

Okay. Verse eight. “Come see the glorious works of the Lord. See how he brings destruction upon the world.”

Nicole (24:13):

“He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear. He burns the shields with fire.”

Sharon (24:20):

“Be still and know that I am God. I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”

Nicole (24:32):

“The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us. The God of Israel is our fortress. Selah”

Sharon (24:39):

Selah. Isn’t that beautiful? There’ll come a day when he’ll cause all wars to end. There’ll come a day when we’ll be in that city of God with a river flowing through it. Everybody talks about this river. I can’t wait to see it. Daniel talks about the river.

Nicole (24:53):

Must be a spectacular river.

Sharon (24:54):

John talks about the river. I think Ezekiel might talk about the river. I’m like, I gotta see this river. Which I will.

Nicole (25:00):

We will. Oh.

Sharon (25:01):

Probably before you, Uhhuh?

Nicole (25:04):

That’s no fair.

Sharon (25:04):

I’ll save you a place beside me to admire it.

Nicole (25:07):

Perfect. I love it.

Sharon (25:10):

So much fun. So much fun. So, and then you know, as I was reading it at P C A, Portsmouth Christian Academy, we’re being attacked basically by another country in a way, ’cause people from another country are flying those planes. Someday God will be honored by every nation. He will be honored throughout the world. How do you stay unshaken through troubled times? You remember truth? The truth is there is a heaven and it ain’t gonna be destroyed. In fact, God’s actually gonna restore the earth and create this beautiful new heaven and earth. So we are safe because of that. And when we’re still, just like I have to be still with a Meniere’s attack, you know, if I move about,

Nicole (25:57):

It gets worse.

Sharon (25:58):

Yeah. We won’t even go into the horrible things that happen. But if I stay still and I find my focal point everything kind of settles down. Right? That’s what we have to do when we feel shaken. Focal point, fix your eyes on Jesus. Right? Just stare. Be still and know who God is and who wins. And then the shaking stops.

Nicole (26:21):

Ooh. That’s such a good example.

Sharon (26:22):

Isn’t that awesome? Yes. It’s just so cool. This is what we have in our God. And this is why we have to stay immersed in the word. And this is why when Sharon had absolutely no words for frightened teenagers, I could go to The Word. And God’s word was more than adequate. It wasn’t me, it was him who spoke. And I’ve just never looked at this Psalm the same way again.

Nicole (26:47):

I don’t think you could find a better verse on your own or say words better than this psalm during that time,

Sharon (26:55):

In that time.

Nicole (26:55):

Only God could have provided such a perfect thing to comfort.

Sharon (26:59):

Yes, he has the best words.

Nicole (27:00):

He does. Yeah.

Sharon (27:01):

He really does. And this is why it’s the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast because our Sweet Selah Moments are when we’re actually reading God’s words.

Nicole (27:08):

Yes.

Sharon (27:09):

Or discussing them because he has the truth. He holds the answers. That’s where we’re supposed to be. So, all right. Well, let us pray. Oh, heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you that you wrote us a living love letter. A living truth letter that gives us what we need to know, that equips us and trains us, and teaches us and rebukes us. Um, God, you speak and I just am so grateful that I have your word to hear what you have to say. Father God, in troubled times, help us to be unshaken because our fixed eyes are on you. Help us to be still and know that you are God. You are our refuge. You are our strength. You are our very present help right there with us in the midst of trouble. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Nicole (28:11):

Amen. Thank you for joining us today. We hope you have been strengthened and encouraged to remain unshaken even when life is hard. We’d love to hear from you. If you have a particular trouble in your life that needs some extra prayer, write us at SweetSelah.org/podcast. We’d also love to have you as a Podcast Partner. Even committing to $10 a month would help us so much as we continue to produce these podcasts. Would you pray about this? We send out a special newsletter each month to our partners, and we are so grateful to them for helping us pay for these podcasts. You can donate at SweetSelah.org/donations. And please do come back next week for episode 116, Joy-filled Blessings. Next week we’ll be walking away from troubles and straight toward joy despite them, Paul is going to teach us how to extend blessings to others and show us the reality of joy rght in the midst of hard times. You won’t wanna miss this. See you next week.

Speaker 1 (29:09):

We are so glad you stopped for a while with us. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries. More information about this podcast can be found @SweetSelah.org. Thank you for joining us.