faith, not fear.

Mar 29

"To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.."

Though we know this to be true, the seasons often catch us off guard, sometimes stop us in our tracks, and maybe even cause us to question. It's easiest to understand things in hindsight, but even still I believe there are many things we will not understand this side of earth. I trust and believe with my whole heart that God works all things for the good of those who love Him. But, that certainly doesn't mean everything is easygoing and the sun is shining twenty four seven. On the contrary. There are days it feels like you cannot breathe and days all you're holding onto is the smallest glimmer of hope - but there's still hope. I heard today that fear is your reality without God, and faith is your reality, plus God. He is the only source of hope, and light, and peace. He is why we can keep moving, and living, and breathing.

The past couple of weeks have been something. I'm not quite sure what word could adequately describe it, but we have all felt it. Our everyday realities have shifted. Everything has changed and perhaps we don't quite know what to do with ourselves. My biggest struggle in all of it has been the feeling of being isolated. If there's anything I know to be true of myself more recently is that I need people. Top that with some other things I have been wrestling with and my heart has felt discouraged on a lot of levels. Not hopeless, not fearful, but yearning for more. I came across this last week during a devotion and it really resonated with my heart.

"God’s grace helps us through times of dryness. And I’m not talking about the kind of dryness that comes if we decide not to seek God, if we choose not to abide in Him. The dryness that I’m describing is an unexplained dryness. We are seeking God. We are still entering into the kinds of practices that once opened us to God’s refreshment, but we are finding ourselves not at an oasis but in a wilderness. No matter how hard we seek, we find ourselves still thirsting. We hear the Spirit calling to us in the restlessness and weariness of our own heart. God is at work. God is deepening our longings for him. If our longings for Him were always easily fulfilled, those longings might not become more deeply rooted. In other words, when we live with unfilled longings for a while, if we feel a thirst that is not quickly quenched, and if we resist the urge to escape into empty activities and false promises of refreshment or fullness, our longings for God are deepened."

Even Jesus was led into the wilderness, for a purpose. During these seasons, it's so important to keep our focus, no matter what our circumstances look like or feel like. We will never be able to control our circumstances, but we can control how we respond. In those times where we feel like we absolutely cannot go on another second, we must lean in, hold fast, and speak Truth. I've been reading a book called Sun Stand Still and the following stood out to me,

"God specifically told Joshua to keep His Word in his mouth (Joshua 1:8-9). To speak it. I preach to myself all the time. I have to preach to myself just to keep going sometimes. As I speak it, my faith is reactivated. My perspective is renewed. I recalculate my resources according to what God says instead of what my mind thinks or my emotions feel.

You see, there are going to be many points along the way when you’re not going to have anyone around to motivate you or encourage you. And in those moments, you’d better be able to open God’s Word, look in the mirror, and remind yourself of truth. As you incorporate God’s Word into your vocabulary, the way you see your circumstances will begin to shift. Your faith will start to rise higher than your feelings and your fears. And it all starts with speaking the Word."

This hit home because when I'm at the end of my rope I find myself quoting Scripture out loud. And I pray out loud. Especially when my Spirit feels weak. When I am so overwhelmed that I don't even want to believe it. When I am angry. When I am worn out. When I feel done. I say it over and over until my heart settles, my feelings come down, and the peace washes over. That's just the thing, sometimes it's easier to live in our emotions. Sometimes it feels good to cry and maybe even feel sorry for ourself. To feel validated for a moment. It's the same reason when in crisis it's easier to turn to someone that will feed our emotions rather than speak Truth. That feels like more work. Sometimes trusting feels harder than giving into the lies we want to feed ourselves. Some days giving up feels easier. But true rest only comes from Him. I one hundred percent fail all the time, but I also choose to continue believing the promise. His promises, for those who believe. So, I choose to get out of bed, keep moving, keep walking, keep pressing in. My friends, the dry seasons will end. There is a light, there is a hope, there is a promise - waiting for you.

Paul speaks in 2 Corinthians 1 regarding all the trouble they had in Asia. "We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." No matter what, Paul believed in the purpose, in the overall good. He considered his trials to be for His benefit, that He may know Christ more fully and that the Gospel could be proclaimed. Imagine that kind of faith, that calling.

Father, help us to keep our eyes fixed on You, the author and perfecter of our faith. Increase our faith, Lord, in You! You are bigger than our circumstances, you are bigger than our fears, and even bigger than our dreams. Help us to live in and walk in faith, not fear. May the church rise up in these times of uncertainty to proclaim and advance Your Kingdom. Your will, God, not ours. Not mine. May we not lose sight, but learn to rely on You.