The best part......

"God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble."

Psalm 46:1

Today I attended a funeral.  (I'm doing that a lot lately.)  The pastor, in his message for the funeral, used this verse.  He spoke more than 30 minutes on just these 12 words!

He said, "This is a wonderful promise. It's a great promise for his children but that's not the best part...."

"Even better than that is its permanence. This is a present tense promise.  God IS our refuge.  It's a present tense reality for every generation." And then he said, "but that's not the best part..."

And he continued,  "This promise speaks of a place of refuge, a place of safety and that place is a person!  God is the refuge for his people.  He is the safe place for his children to run to.  But it's not a refuge from the battle, it's a refuge in the battle. A safe place in the middle of your trials. But that's not the best part..."

(This is getting exciting....and as he talked my thoughts unpacked this verse even more...but back to the sermon.)

As he continued, with his rich deep voice he said, "This is a promise with a permanence in a place promised by a PERSON.  The best part is this...the person who promised it is God himself!"

And with that final piece of the puzzle the funeral audience was standing and praising God for this amazing promise. 

A promise, a present tense reality for every generation, a place of safety all promised by a person who is able to make it true for each one who trusts him.

"But that's not the best part..." will be words we will hear in heaven over and over again.  How sweet to catch a glimpse of it now.