"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 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. Selah" (Psalm 46:1-3)

What's the worst that could happen? It's one thing to say, "God is our refuge and strength." But our human tendency is to immediately come up with a list of "yeah, buts."
"Yeah, but what if I get cancer?" "Yeah, but what if my parents get divorced?" "Yeah, but what if I fail Chemistry or get dumped or lose everything that matters most?" "Yeah, but what if health care reform passes (or doesn't)?" (A lot of people have been freaked out about that one.)
The writer went to his own worst case scenario: What if there's an earthquake so terrible that it pitches the mountains into the ocean and the ocean on top of us? What then?
Even then, he says, "We will not fear." Why? Because God is our refuge and strength, bigger than that worst case scenario we can dream up. "Yeah, but what if it happens anyway?" Come back tomorrow.

Think: How many "yeah, buts" do you have that are bigger in your mind than God's power to help you through them? What can you do to start to see God as bigger than the scenarios that scare you most?

Pray: Ask God to help you to trust Him enough to kill your fear of even the worst things you can imagine.

Do: Ask a good Christian friend you respect how they keep their fears from growing bigger than their faith in God.

"God is our Refuge and Strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Psalms 46:1

When you're 18, you might laugh at what used to terrify you when you were 8. And by the time you turn 28, the fears of your 18-year-old self might seem kind of silly, too. What doesn't change is that there is always something to be afraid of or worried about.
It's not that the things that scare us don't matter. Many of them are real. The world is a dangerous place with lots of things that go wrong all of them time. But there's another thing that doesn't change no matter how old we get: God is bigger than everything that scares us.
That's what we're going to study from Psalm 46 this week. God is our safe place -- the refuge in which we're untouchable. He's our strength -- stronger than any danger -- and he's ready to help in every moment.
To belong to a God like that should make our fear less powerful. Does it? Come back tomorrow.

Think: In the battle between faith in a huge God and fear of terrible things, which one usually wins in your heart? What kinds of things do you do to help or hurt either side?

Pray: Thank God that He is your refuge, your strength, and your ever-present help in trouble.

Do: Make a quick list of your top 3 current fears and write next to each of them, "God is bigger."