Sometimes you’re afraid. Afraid you’re not good enough. Afraid you’ve screwed this thing up beyond repair. Afraid you’re in over your head and can’t make it work. Afraid you don’t have what it takes and this is as far as you will ever go. Afraid if your truth is told, bad things will happen. Afraid you will always be stuck here. Afraid this is the end.
What are you afraid of right now? What worried you as you went to sleep last night? What weighed heavy on you from the moment you woke up this morning? Oh, we’re all carrying around a weight like that. We’re all facing scary and unknown situations which make us question what will happen next.
Name your fear. Go ahead and put it on the table and let’s talk about it.
Sometimes our fears are completely valid. Other times they are imaginary threats we’ve created in our own minds. Real or imagined, valid or never even going to happen, the truth is these fears impact us in the same exact way. They steal our peace. They rob us of our joy. And they render us incapable of taking the next step, when in truth, we are fully equipped for it.
God doesn’t want you to continue with this fear.
Did you hear that? This fear, the one you just identified, God wants to lift that from you now. And for my sister who just couldn’t bring herself to name the fear you’ve been carrying around, the one that wasn’t laid on the table, God especially wants to lift that from you. You are his prized girl, and He says that fear has no place in your life.
Tucked away in God’s word is a sweet and powerful promise to you from your Creator. A promise you were destined to be reminded of on this very day of your life. A promise over that exact fear you’re dealing with now.
Isaiah 43: 1-4 MSG:
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You are mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end –
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you …
That’s how much you mean to me!
That’s how much I love you!
I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade the creation just for you.”
And let me assure you sister, these words from God are FOR YOU. Don’t dismiss yourself from this promise. This covers you. When God spoke these words, you were on his mind. If you were the only person in the whole world, he would have done it just for you. Why? Because as verse 3 says, I am your PERSONAL GOD.
He’s not some white bearded wizard that sits on a throne with a big stick looking down at you. Is that the image you have of the Almighty? Angry, ready to strike, impossible to please, judgmental and temperamental? Dang it, where did that come from? That’s not who he is! God is love. He is the ultimate love in that he gave his own son for you. And y’all that’s a whole other level of love. I love you, in fact I love you wildly, but you’re not getting one of my kids! Nope, not happening! But that’s the kind of love God has, unstoppable, relentless love. And He’s YOUR GOD and you are HIS GIRL. This is personal. And he is personally invested in lifting your fears.
God makes it very clear, life is not a matter of if you ever get in over you’re head, it’s WHEN you do. You will be in waters so deep you can’t touch. You will be faced with impossible odds, but what are impossible odds when God is on your side?
Two scriptures to remember in your deep water:
Romans 8:31 “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
Matthew 19:26 ““With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
God is WITH you and God is FOR you, so my sister, this is NOT IMPOSSIBLE. This thing you fear may be big and scary and overwhelming, and it may be wayyyyyyyyyyy over your head, but remember this, Jesus walks on this deep water you’re flailing in, and he walks straight to you!
God also makes it very clear this won’t always be smooth sailing for you. That water is going to get rough and you’re going to get tossed around. Not because you’re being punished, not because there’s something inherently not good enough in you, not because you’re broke or damaged, honey just because you’re alive! Rough waters are part of this world.
But, have you ever flown over the ocean? Have you ever noticed the higher you get, the calmer things look? You know that’s the perspective of God, right? You know he sees how all of those rough waters are actually held perfectly within their boundaries and nothing is out of his control. He decided where the water would end, and that’s exactly where it ends. And Sis, he decides where your rough waters end. He decides the boundaries of what this can and cannot touch, and he hasn’t lost control. His promise to you is even though these waters will get rough, you will not go down!
Did you hear that, you’re not going down in this!
When you’re in that dreaded place we call “between a rock and a hard place”, and again, it’s not a matter of if you will ever be there, it’s WHEN you are; you must remember, this is not a dead end. This isn’t over. This isn’t as far as you will go and now you’re tapped out. This isn’t your max. This isn’t your peak. This is your rock to the left and your hard place to the right, and it’s going to suck going through it, but there is a way through it.
God promised this isn’t a dead end. He has made a way, but you have to decide to follow him in the way and not settle here and stay stuck. It may be a one lane, rough butt dirt road through uncharted territory with no road signs and a dude playing a banjo in the ditch, but dang it sis, there’s a way through this! Decide now you’re continuing the journey and not giving up here!
When God says he would trade all of creation for you, he means it! He’s not just trying to blow wind up your skirt or smoke up your arse (Can I say that in a devotional? Welp, I just did, so there’s that.) God doesn’t just say things to say things. He had no need to throw in filler lines in his Holy word. He said it, he meant it. It is written, it is truth. And God’s truth sets the whole world in motion. The whole world revolves on His truth, and His truth is, he would trade it all for YOU!
You are that loved, that valued, that treasured. Girl, you are THAT chosen. THAT redeemed. THAT empowered.
I love to put my name in a scripture and receive it as the personal promise from my personal God, as it was intended to be. So we’ve done this before, it’s time to do it again. When I say “your name”, go ahead and plop your name right in there.
Isaiah 43: 1-4, God’s personal promise to you, his prized girl for precisely this day of your life:
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. (Insert your name), you are mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end –
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you …
That’s how much you mean to me!
That’s how much I love you!
I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade the creation just for you.”
So go ahead and let God get you back now. You don’t have to be afraid. Your fears don’t have to carry you away any longer. God carries you now. He did all of this to get you back, back from the fears that cause you to hide, back from the fears that cause you to freeze up, back from the fears that cause you to settle. And now that you’re back, let him show you the way through this.
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