Fear is NOT an option

Seven years ago our world was shaken.  Fear gripped our family and Satan held the power.  Or so we thought.  We lost everything.  Our home, Chris' job, Matthew's opportunity to continue in private school....and the list goes on.   Fear took over and I truly thought we'd done something to upset and offend God.  And then Chris secured a job.  After over four months of searching, he was hired...in Indiana.  And so we went.  When you begin to see a glimmer of hope, you act on it. 

I know I've shared this story so many times to so many people.  I think God has me focusing on it now to remind me, Fear is Not an Option when you are His.  After we moved to Indiana, I started BSF.  I had never been in a Bible Study before and to study with over 500 women was just jaw dropping.  I thought I knew my Bible, but I had so much more to learn.  My first year we studied Isaiah.  Whew.  You want to see God's wrath and then spend time in God's glory then study Isaiah.  I think because this was my first official leap into truly studying God's Word, Isaiah is near and dear to me.  It's my "go to" whenever I need a reminder, a pick me up, or to refocus my thinking.  So today, as I'm writing out what God wants me to see, I'm taken to Isaiah 12:2.

Surely God is my salvation;
    I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense;
    he has become my salvation. Isaiah 12:2

I love how God always gives us what we need to hear.  Seven years later, I'm feeling a rising of fear, anxiety and just a constant overwhelming in my heart.  But God never leaves us.  But God never punishes us.  But God is constant.  When we feel we have lost it all, and that the battle has been lost and Satan has won is just when God proves us wrong.  Jesus tells us in this world we will have trouble, but take heart for I have overcome the world.  Why can't we live in that?  Why do we allow ourselves to get tangled up in the web of lies Satan puts in front of us? 

Charles Stanley has a quote in one of my devotionals, "Adversity is always unexpected and unwelcomed.  It is an intruder and a thief, and yet in the hands of God, adversity becomes the means through which His supernatural power is demonstrated".

God wants nothing more than our obedience and love.  And when we fail, He doesn't leave us, He picks us up and carries us until we have the strength.  When we are discouraged and finding life difficult is when we should trust God even more.  God gives us hope.  Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Hebrews 10:23.

When life is spiraling our of your control, then grip onto the hope God gives His children.  How blessed we are to have complete and utter access to God at all times, in all places, and in all ways. 

This year in BSF we are studying Romans.  When we first started the study in September, I just fell into my normal BSF schedule not really giving Romans much thought.  But God (there's those words again) is showing me that as my circumstances continue, He is constant.  As I feel out of control, God has complete control.  It still amazes me that every time I face a challenge, God has a response for me in my study.  You would think that after watching what God can do after everything was lost that I would never question God's love for me.  But I am human, and I try to fix things in my way and my time.  But if my every human calculation fails, then it's time to release it all to God.  Hope.  Hope is trusting God with every detail, every event of my life and knowing that He is loving, He is faithful, and He is capable. 

And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:2-4

God gives each of us trials.  It's not a punishment.  It's not an opportunity for God to show you how much you've disappointed him.  NEVER!  Our God uses our trials, sufferings, and circumstances to remind us He has it.  To remind us to stand in the promises He has given us.  To allow us to trust Him in all things.  To draw us in closer so that we stand in that trail and persevere through it.  It isn't easy.  Nope, never is.  At the time we, always allow the circumstances to take control of our emotions.  But think for a second how peaceful it would be if we just raised our arms and gave it to God. 

I'll be the first to admit, more often than not, I have to be thunked on the head before I truly raise my hands in praise for God's trials in my life.  I need to draw closer to God in my sufferings rather than allowing Satan to control my thoughts and fears.  If I fear God, then I have nothing else to fear in life.  And I have to live in the truth that I learned in an Ann Voskamp book,  "God is always good and I am always loved".  That my friends is the true step of faith.  Trusting God with it all.  Trusting Him through every trial and all my circumstances because He is in control.  He will never push us too far, give us too much, or leave us.  He is true, and faithful, and a God of promises.  I do not need to live in survival mode but rather I need to walk in the sunshine with God holding firm to the peace only He can provide.  I was reminded this week, Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  Oh glorious day!  What love God has for all His children. 

Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord.  Psalm 31:24

So my take away is this...I will NOT let fear be an option.  I will NOT allow my circumstances to dictate my emotions.  I will NOT walk alone through my sufferings.  I will NOT be overwhelmed for I know that God has control.  God is faithful. He's got His hand on the thermostat. The fire will not

get too hot. He's watching the depth gauge; this trial will not get too deep. God puts up the boundaries to my trials.  God protects His own. He will not allow me to be tried beyond what I am able to take....and I will raise my hands in praise and live in the hope and peace that only God can provide.

Father, make me a woman of hope.  When I feel discouraged, let me turn to You.  When I am weary, let it be Your strength that carries me.  When I am disappointed, remind me to seek Your will and trust in You.  In every part of my life, let me trust You so that I may be filled with faith, hope, and praise.  In Your name, Amen.