Dolls & Toy Soldiers
There is a scene in the Nutcracker Ballet where the children open presents under the Christmas tree. It is a classic play that we usually enjoy every year during the holiday season. As I watched, I noticed the gifts that the children received: dolls, toy soldiers, and the prize gift, a Nutcracker. How times have changed, I thought. A simple rag doll for a girl and a toy soldier for a boy, those kids must have been thrilled back then to get those gifts. Nowadays, children look for gifts that are quite different, which makes sense; times change, our desires change, and things change.
A lot of Psalms begin with a cry for help or a desperate plea, but Psalm 46 stands out in that it starts by proclaiming God as the source of help and strength, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, will we not 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.” God is our refuge, our strength, our help, our confidence, our all in all. If we put our faith in Him, He will be all those things. God is always faithful, and God is always God.
John Trapp said this about Martin Luther in reference to Psalm 46: “Luther, when in greatest distress, was wont to call for this Psalm, saying, ‘Let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm in concert; and then let the devil do his worst.’” There was a time when we used to call on the LORD, when our automatic response to trials was to call God on His Word and lie prostrate before Him until we got an answer. Now we turn to anything and everything else. God does not seem to be enough. There was a time when all we needed were dolls and toy soldiers, and there was a time when all we needed was God.
Our world is full of various distractions, personal, political, positive, and negative. We often turn inward, to others, or even to substances to try to deal with our lives. None of that is the answer. In Colossians 3:2, Paul says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” The answer is God. The enemy does a good job of making us forget that our help is in God. When we are suffering and in distress, when creation groans, when nations are raging, let God's people sing unto Him a new song! Let us praise Him and see what we can do. We can move mountains because God is our refuge and our strength. He is our help in trouble. Nothing that threatens us should cause us to fear because our confidence is not in man but in the Creator of all things. Let the devil do his worst because nothing is too hard for God!
In the same day and age that we were satisfied with dolls and toy soldiers, we were satisfied with the faithfulness of the God of all creation. Let us go back to a place where we turn our eyes upon Jesus, knowing He is our help, knowing He is more than enough. Things change, but our source of strength never changes. Our God never changes.
