No matter what struggle you are going through, physical, spiritual or emotional, Jesus will be there to get you through it. Put your full trust in Him; He will not let you down.
Mere humans will let you down, but He will not let you down, even if you don’t yet understand the work He is doing in your life. Remember Psalm 118:8, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” And, Deuteronomy 31:8, “And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”
God uses our struggles as testimonies of His glory, of His healing, of His steadfast love and mercy. I am living proof; I was tormented for many years with deep-seated feelings of low self worth, shame, condemnation, and depression, and He freed me and healed my mind greatly.
As I continue to develop my faith, I see how crucial it is to constantly take my worries, anxieties and fears to Him and let Him take the wheel. Turn to Him, cry out in deep repentance and ask for His mercy, trust in Him and He will never leave you nor forsake you.
Through prayer and His Word, the Lord has given me the strength to conquer my fears. In times of anxiety and worry, I continually remind myself of Psalm 23*. Psalms 23 and 91 are my absolute favorite psalms, and His Word washes over me and comforts me greatly every time I read them.
Through the grace of God, I’ve been able to, more and more, keep my fears of severe storms at bay, something I had battled with for several years after a traumatic experience hiking on a mountain when a storm hit, among other things that have made me anxious. I still have had times where I struggle, but I’ve been learning so much more to give my worries and fears to Him.
God is so good; just put your trust fully in Him. Remember the promises in His Word, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)
Stop worrying yourself to sickness over things you cannot control. Trust in His plan for your life. You may be going through a difficult season, but God is there in the midst of your trials. God often uses trials to grow our faith and draw us closer to Him when we have wandered away.
Sometimes our trials may be so difficult that when we read, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,” we struggle to truly believe that. But, when David wrote 73 of the 150 psalms that are in our modern Bibles, he was experiencing extreme life events, including fleeing from King Saul, facing unrest with his son Absalom, and dealing with guilt over his affair with Bathsheba.
I’ve been learning that true faith is seeing God’s goodness even when life doesn’t appear to the visible eye as good.
We must truly read the Word daily, nourish our spirits with it. The less of God’s Word we read in a day, the louder our flesh becomes and the quieter His promises become. Sinful thoughts become harder to take captive when our spirits are running on empty (of the Word).
So, when I feel like I’m in need of a Life-Preserver to stay afloat, when worries and anxiety seem louder than His promises, I turn to the first scripture that truly calmed my fears back when I began my faith journey: Psalm 23, specifically verse 4. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
A few months ago, during a very stressful season, I found great comfort in verses 3 through 4: “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.”
The more Word we store up in our hearts, the more we are equipped to fight the lies of the enemy and the lies of our flesh. The Word, is after all, the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:17). It is the weapon God gives us to stand firm in truth, to resist temptation, and to overcome the lies that seek to pull us away from Him.
So, take up your sword and fight the good fight, family. You are not called to be defeated. You are called to be an overcomer through Jesus Christ.
*Psalm 23:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;
For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
Until next time, Lord willing, shalom to my brothers and sisters in Christ. May you have a blessed rest of your week and a restful weekend.
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