Good evening, friends. I hope you’re all doing well as I type this tonight. We are currently in our fourth hotel stay since Christmas, and our second one since last Thursday. I can’t remember another spring season quite as busy as this one. We’re working hard to focus on just one thing at a time.
The LaQuinta Inn in Rockford, IL has a king suite with the bed in a separate room from the living area. There’s a pocket door in the middle that blocks most of the light. This works very well for my husband and I since our sleeping and waking hours are typically opposite. In comparison to him, I sleep very little and need space to be up drinking coffee and reading, writing, or listening to music in the early morning.
He, on the other hand, will sleep during the day and be up working or watching movies late into the night… especially when I’m driving the first 6-hour shift back home tomorrow. He’s the nightshift driver in our family, thankfully.
The twelve hours between here and home really is a beautiful drive that I’ve grown quite fond of in our three trips to Rockford this year. After catching up with our son about this weekend’s drumline camp, I’ll pop in one earbud and listen to a Disney soundtrack or Switchfoot’s entire Hello Hurricane album on the way home. There’s no better driving music, in my opinion… except maybe the Hairspray or Phantom of the Opera soundtracks.
I really am looking forward to it.
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
Matthew 6:27
If I’ve mentioned before how busy we’ve been, I may have left out the part about how I’ve taken on a significant amount of anxiety over current and upcoming things in our lives. With one son planning to graduate in two years, college debt then comes into play, so that’s a money worry. Our daughter, the youngest, graduates from high school this May and starts college in the fall, which comes with its own set of worries. (Ugh, the pain of transition.) My oldest son is working and successful, but still has the benefit of my worrying over him simply because he’s my son and I love him.
This season, I’ve been more a “worry-er” than a warrior, and the Lord has really been knocking on my door about it, which I’m more than grateful for.
We haven’t built our lives on human wisdom. We’re not at all perfect or righteous or holy apart from Christ, but we’ve tried to chase after the Lord. We wanted to live a life in service to Him, and we knew it was going to be difficult. We prayed nearly thirty years ago for the Lord to give us “a life that takes FAITH to live,” and He definitely has, but when those moments arrive, it can be so hard to hold up our end of the bargain and actually have FAITH.
Days and nights under the fears and pressures of life are filled with heaviness and so many questions tossed up to God. “What have we done? What are we going to do? What will happen? How will we survive?” These are the times when we need every reminder of grace, mercy, and the power of a living God.
This week the Lord has given me a series of reminders about who He is and what He can do.
- Psalm 44:1-3. “We have heard it with our ears, O God; our ancestors have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago. With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our ancestors; you crushed the peoples and made our ancestors flourish. It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.”
- 2 Chronicles 20:15-17. ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s… You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you… Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them… and the Lord will be with you.”
He reminded me of my own life verse:
- Isaiah 41:10. “So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
He reminded me of one of the most important precepts that I live by:
- Psalm 138:8. “The Lord will accomplish everything that concerns me. Your [unwavering] lovingkindness, O Lord, endures forever—[He will not] abandon the works of His own hands.”
The truth of these things is sometimes easier to see when looking back to the past. What has He already done for me? How does that speak to what He WILL do for me in the future? I mean, He literally saved and completely changed my entire life, from the roots up. Why would He do ALL that just to abandon me in the end?
He would never.
I can say with confidence that He is my helper. He sees the end from the beginning. It’s not like He’s surprised by anything we are going through, or anything that is coming in the future. He’s not only God enough to SEE it, He’s perfect, holy, and strong enough to already have a plan in place to turn it around for our good… according to His Word… because He cannot lie.
- Romans 8:28. “And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.”
It helps me quite a bit, when working to overcome fear and anxiety, to anticipate the absolute worst-case scenario in any given situation. “What’s the worst that could happen?” Coming to terms with that helps me to release my worries about the future, release my hold on material possessions, and trust my life and family to the Lord once again. Even if the worst-case scenario does happen, we will still make our way back around to trusting God… because where else would we go? What else could we do? He truly is our only hope in good times and bad.
So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.
Hebrews 6:18-19a NLT
Broken & Sown 