阅读经文 

Ann是我们事工的一位亲爱的支持者，在第二次世界大战时，她是荷兰一间精神病医院的护士。她曾与我们分享，在战争即将结束时，为了救助病人免于被占领那个地区的纳粹党消灭，他们的医院需要疏散。

这个故事是扣人心弦的很好的电影题材。在连翻轰炸和雨夹雪的天气之中，几个年轻的护士需要照顾数以百计的精神病患者。这些妇女们努力工作，并且不断祈祷。Ann告诉我们，她们必须全然依靠神的拯救。这些被疏散的病人最终得以逃脱，被火车送到安全的地点。

我们当中大部分人都有幸免于经历这种戏剧性的惊险的遭遇，我们的生活看来要安全和稳定得多。

然而我们不要忘记，我们是同样需要倚赖神的。今天的经文提醒我们，我们倚靠的神是“我们的避难所，是我们的力量”——是我们在患难中随时的帮助。（参诗 46:1）纵然环境会突然恶化，主却时常在我们身旁。《诗篇》第四十六篇宣告，“地虽改变，山虽摇动到海心，我们也不害怕。”这是何等有力的一个信心的宣言啊！

无论我们住在什么地方，或处在什么境况之中，有主的保护，我们的灵必得安稳。

Ann, a dear supporter of our ministry, worked as a nurse in a mental-health hospital in the Netherlands during World War II. She shared that as the war drew to an end, their hospital had to be evacuated to save the patients from extermination by the occupying Nazi forces.

This story would make for a gripping movie. Under bombardment in a freezing rain, a handful of young nurses had to take care of hundreds of patients with mental disabilities. The women worked hard and prayed a lot. Ann told me they had to fully rely on God for their deliverance. The evacuees finally escaped and were transported by train to safety.

Most of us have been spared from experiencing something so dramatic. Our lives seem to be much safer and secure.

But let us not forget how dependent we are on God. Today’s passage reminds us that the God we rely on is “our refuge and strength”—our help in every kind of trouble. Our situation may change drastically for the worse, but the Lord will always be near. Psalm 46 declares that even if continents break up and sink beneath the surging sea, we need not be afraid. What a powerful statement of faith!

No matter where we live or what kind of life situation we are going through, our souls are secure in the protection of the Lord.