This summer may be different.

Store dressing rooms are closed. Ya’ll how are we supposed to buy a new swimsuit? THIS IS A REAL DILEMMA. Remember how you used to complain about the trauma of buying a new swimsuit and looking in the mirror as you tried them on … oh well, you may be standing in the Target trying that puppy on over your stretchy pants this year! That’s what I did.

This should be the time of eager anticipation. We would typically be blasting “schoooooool’s out for summmmmmerrrrrrrr!” but the kids have been out of school for 2 months and it’s already gotten old. What the heck are we going to do now?

Seriously, what are we going to do? What can we do? Anything? Is there anything we CAN do with this summer?

My sister, you do not have to dread what may come. You don’t have to live in fear of anything. Your life is held securely in the firm grip of the Lord and he is over everything that concerns you.

EVERYTHING. Yes, all your things are included in everything.

Sometimes I like to take a scripture and turn it into an affirmation as my personal declaration.

Psalm 112:7 “They will not live in fear or dread of what may come, for their hearts are firm, ever secure in their faith.”

Now, claim that as your own. I will not live in fear. I will not dread what may come. My heart is firm, I am not shaken. I am secure in the one who cares for me.

God is working in the midst of all that is now different. He is here changing things that were once stuck and stagnant in our lives. He is setting us free so we can rise up to new levels of living.

He sees what we can’t see. His perspective is greater than our tiny view. AND I CHOOSE TO TRUST HIM.

Will you?

Will you trust him over the news?
Will you trust that his good plans for you have not changed and he is still leading you to a place of hope and a prosperous future?

Our God is not defeated. He never loses. He wins COMPLETELY. Not kinda. Not almost. Not half-way. No, when he does something it is complete. So if the good plan for your life is not yet complete, then God is not yet finished. This is all still in progress and you don’t have to dread what may come.

What is coming for you is complete. It is whole. It is full circle. Because that is how our God works. He works things together for good. And if it’s not good yet, then it’s not complete yet and God’s not finished.

When facing uncertainty, my mind gets real creative. I can mentally jump from one disaster to another without a single thing actually happening. I can imagine all that could go wrong and see it play out fully in my mind in seconds. I could fail here, this could fall apart over there, that door could close, I could get stuck here, that would create this mess, now what will I do?

Why do I do that? Here’s the crazy thing … I am a ridiculously positive person. My default is positive. I say if your cup is half empty you should probably get a different bra. (get it?) And here I am as the #7 on the ennegram test, the Enthusiast who always sees the positive, searching for the fun and creates the adventure, yet I admittedly create crazy negative scenarios to work through in my mind. And it’s exhausting.

Does your mind do that creative negative hop skotch too? Jumping from one possible disaster to another, creating a domino effect of all that could go wrong?

How does that make you feel? Does it fix anything? Does it make a single thing better? No, it’s the devil’s playground stirring up anxiety and fear, rendering us incapable of seeing God at work in our lives.

GET OUT OF THERE! Don’t stay on that merry-go-round of endless worst case scenarios. That’s not the proper place for a child of the King! A girl like you with a Heavenly father like that can’t be caught up in the devil’s playground sipping on his kool-aid of fear.

Harness your thoughts. Grab hold of them and stop allowing them to run wild. Make your thoughts obedient to truth. The truth that God is for you, not against you. The truth that he has good plans for you and nothing can stop those plans. The truth that God already knows how this is all going to work out and he has made a way.

If you ever wake up from a bad dream, you know how hard it is to stop thinking about it. You may lay in bed replaying the nightmare over and over again, feeling all the emotions as if it’s really happening. You know it’s not, but you can’t stop the images from replaying. The more you try not to think about it, the more you think about it.

And the same can be true about our thoughts of the future. Worst case scenario is on display and the offerings of dread are in abundance. BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO ENTERTAIN THOSE THOUGHTS. You don’t have to welcome them into your mental space and make them comfortable. Girl, stop rolling out the welcome mat to unwelcome thoughts. Stop offering ice tea to the negativity! These fears and that dread are not welcome in your head space.

Refocus now. Harness your thoughts. Take back control of your mind and be stern with what is allowed here. Turn scripture into an affirmation and your personal declaration.

I will not live in fear. I will not dread what may come. No! My heart is firm, I am not shaken. I am secure in the one who cares for me. I will look for God’s goodness. I will dwell on his blessings. I will see his hand and trust in his provision. God is at work here, he is making a way for me. I am excited to see what he is doing. I eagerly anticipate the unfolding. There is no room for fear here. No room for dread. My life is God’s space and he will work here until it’s complete!