Leap of Faith

Tag: fear

  • KNOW YOUR TRAVELING COMPANION: Redefining Hope

    My first post of 2022 was “Hope for the New Year: Part One.” Part two never came. In fact, it took over a year for me to write again. Last year truly felt like being in a tiny boat in the middle of a raging sea trying to survive one giant wave after another as my skiff filled with water. I felt like all my bailing was just forestalling the inevitable moment when my boat slipped permanently beneath the waves, taking all hope with it. Worse yet, slipping beneath the waves didn’t seem like such a bad idea?!

    After ministering to the crowds, Jesus and the disciples got in their boat and set sail. Storms on the sea of Galilee can come out of nowhere and violently change the calm waters into a roiling tumult. The disciples found themselves in one of these dread-full storms. Many disciples were fishermen by trade and veterans of the sea. Storms were something they faced year in and year out. This must have been a killer storm because they completely melted down. They become so panicked that they woke Jesus up and accused Him of not caring that they were about to die!

    Jesus’ response was “Why are you afraid you men of little faith?” Jesus rebuked the storm and a “perfect peacefulness” came over the sea. The disciple’s response? “What kind of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matt 8:23-27)

    Why did Jesus call the disciples ‘men of little faith’? Was it because they were afraid? Or was it because they didn’t rebuke the wind and the waves themselves? I dont think so. I think the real reason was because they didn’t turn to or trust Jesus for help in the first place. I can almost hear Jesus saying ‘Guys I was right here in the boat with you. When things got rough, all you had to do was wake me up and ask for help. Instead, you panicked and accused me of not caring. Do you know me at all?’ Whatever Jesus may have been thinking in that moment, it’s pretty clear that the disciples didn’t really know their traveling companion.

    As I have looked over the events of last year, it has occurred to me that the storms weren’t my real problem. Like the disciples, my REAL problem was I didn’t fully know or trust the One with whom I travel. Would I need to be in a state of hypervigilance and panic if I recognized that Jesus is ALWAYS in my boat with me? If I truly understood the magnitude of His power to calm the storm and preserve my life would anxiety have drug me to the depths? If I rested secure in His love for me would the possibility of slipping beneath the waves even be an option? What would my seas look like if I recognized and truly trusted that all I have to do is ask Jesus to speak to the storm?

    Just before He went to the cross, Jesus promised the disciples that though He was going away He would send a comforter, a companion, who would remain with and in us forever (John 14:16-17). On another occasion Jesus promises that He and the Father will make Their dwelling place in us (John 14:23).  God is ALWAYS with us. Regardless of the storms raging around and over us, we need to know Who we are traveling with. We need to trust His presence and ask Him to release His power into our situation.

    Photo by

    Being people of faith doesn’t mean we don’t experience fear in the storms. It sure doesn’t mean we take them on ourselves (see “Redefining Strength: Building on Solid Ground). Being people of faith means getting to KNOW the One we are traveling with on an intimate basis. It means spending time in His presence, drinking in every word that He speaks. It means listening in the depths of our souls for that still small voice. It means recognizing Jesus is ALWAYS in the boat with us. He is ALWAYS willing and able to address the circumstances we are facing. Being people of faith means ASKING FOR HIS HELP and TRUSTING Him to act on our behalf. Knowing our traveling companion is the true foundation of unwavering, unbreakable hope.

  • HOPE for the NEW YEAR: Part 1

    For me, 2022 hit like a sucker punch to the gut. By Jan 3rd, my husband, daughter and I all had COVID.  Three weeks later I found myself sitting beside my daughter’s hospital bed praying that she would recover from a COVID induced delirium. Few things are as terrifying a seeing your child incoherent and delusional, lying a hospital bed.  

    This is NOT how I would have chosen to start 2022. Like it or not, this is how it started. Now I have two choices. I can decide that 2022 will be a crappy year and lose myself to fear and depression. OR I can place my hope in the Lord and believe His promises.

    I know the plans that I have for you says the Lord. Plans for good, not to harm you, plans for hope and a future of HOPE (Jer 29:11) All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28) 

    These are my go-to verses when the poop hits the fan. They have carried me through some of the darkest, most heartbreaking seasons of life. They anchor me to a steadfast hope. God has demonstrated over and over again that in EVERY circumstance, He can be fully trusted to work on our behalf!

    Yet, as I watched my precious daughter slip into delirium, my hold on this anchor of hope became as tenuous and fragile as the tether my daughter had on reality. Both began to unravel. I watched her mental faculties deteriorate and I felt utterly helpless and hopeless.  When I left my terrified, delusional daughter at the hospital alone, my heart broke. In utter desperation, I cried out to God. Then I came across Daniel 10:19

    “Don’t be afraid,” he said, “for you are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong!”  

    The angel of the Lord spoke these words to Daniel after he saw a vision of a mighty warrior coming against Israel. This vision caused overwhelming fear and anxiety in Daniel. “Yet no strength was left in me, for my normal appearance turned to a deathly pale, and I grew faint and weak with fright” (Dan 10:8). I could TOTALLY relate! I was overwhelmed, anxious, and filled with fear.

    I clung desperately to Daniel 10:19. As I repeated it over and over, it reminded me WHY God has good plans for us and why He causes EVERYTHING to work for our good.  It is because we are precious to Him! His love is limitless and extravagant. He defines, embodies, and expresses love perfectly. Amazingly, inexplicably, undeservedly, WE are the objects of His extravagant love! Because we are precious to Him, He has good plans for our future. He is so serious about these plans that He will cause all things to work for their fulfillment. 

    Our lives matter to God! What comfort and HOPE this brings! No matter what happens in this coming year, we can anchor ourselves in this hope! God is ALWAYS faithful! There is no shadow of turning in Him. His word does not fail or come back empty but accomplishes that for which He sent it (Is 55:11). He has GOOD plans for our future, and He will ensure that those plans are fulfilled. Grasp that HOPE with all your might and NEVER let go! Find peace! Be encouraged! Renew your strength! We are precious to Him, therefore we have hope in this new year!

  • DEALING WITH DISCOURAGEMENT: A 2020 survival guide

    I started my 2020 survival guide with the post “Faith, Hope and Love.” It was followed in short order by “Finding Faith”, “Building Faith” and “Walking by Faith”. It was time to start writing about hope. Yet every time I sat down to write, the words were like a classroom of unruly 2-year olds on a massive sugar high. IF I could find the words, I couldn’t get them to sit still long enough to form a coherent sentence.

    The truth is, I was having trouble writing about hope, because I was having trouble finding hope. I had already hit the proverbial wall with the COVID situation. Social distancing and being separated from family and friends had worn thin. Then came the murder of George Floyd. That was more than I could handle. In the wake of all 2020 had dished out I found myself struggling with a onslaught of negative emotions.

    I don’t experience discouragement often. This time however, I just couldn’t shake off the negative emotions that were overwhelming me. I found myself getting ground down by 2020 and all its fallout. I was relating a little too much with Job’s outcry; “Where now is my hope?…Will it go down with me into Sheol? Shall we go down together in the dust?” (Job 17:15.)

    We are facing a LOT of challenges. Apart from the health concerns, there is the financial impact of all this on families, businesses and the country. There is tremendous uncertainty about what life will be like on the other side of COVID. The stresses on marriages and families can be overwhelming. There are arguments about everything from public health and safety versus economic recovery, to the ‘correct’ response to racial injustice. These arguments are being expressed at VOLUME. Conflict is everywhere. People are angry. Some are expressing their anger violently. It’s all disheartening! It steals hope.

    What do we do when hope feels this elusive? 

    No matter how long all this lasts or how tough it gets, our answer is in the LORD and His promises! 

    “So now we must cling tightly to the Hope that LIVES WITHIN US, knowing that God ALWAYS keeps His promises!” (Heb. 10:23) emphasis added 

    PROMISE #1 – He is our hope.

    “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him,” (Lam. 3:25).  He has good plans for us, plans for hope and a future of hope and prosperity (Jer 29;11) 

    When I started asking “Why are you downcast O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?”, the answer was “Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, my Help and my God”(Ps. 42:5).

    We can face the challenges and uncertainties with confidence by trusting God “with all our heart.” When we lean on His understanding rather than our own, we have the assurance of His wisdom. “He will direct and make [our] path[s] straight and plain.” (Prov. 3:5-6) 

    PROMISE #2 – He is our refuge.

    “God is our Refuge and Strength, mighty and impenetrable. A very present and well proved help in trouble.” (Ps. 46:1)

    When we begin to feel hopeless in the face of all the stresses and uncertainties of 2020, we need to seek the refuge that can be found in God alone. His compassions are new every morning and his faithfulness is unending! (Lam 3:22-23P)

    PROMISE #3 – He is our comfort.

    “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the GOD OF ALL COMFORT, who comforts us in ALL OUR TROUBLES so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves received from God.” (2 Cor. 1:3-4) emphasis added

    We can find comfort and consolation for the losses and disappointments 2020 has brought in its wake because Jesus is a High priest who KNOWS and UNDERSTANDS our human frailty and needs, from the inside out. Because He has shared in our weaknesses and infirmities, He knows what we are going through. (Heb. 4:15) When we seek comfort in Him, we can learn to be content in all circumstances because in Him, we will know the secret of facing any circumstance, even 2020. (Phil 4:11)