Leap of Faith

Tag: peace

  • LEAVING ANXIETY BEHIND: Finding peace in the midst of trial

    Photo by Johannes Plenio

    Things in our lives have been relatively quiet for a while. I am allowing myself to embrace the idea that we might be through this season of trial. Not just through, but actually learning to experience the peace that passes all understanding. The path there was not as pretty or as fast as I would have liked it to be.

    The worst part of a season like the one we have come through is the compounding effect of taking hit after hit without time to recover. It reduces your resilience to ashes and it’s fertile ground for anxiety to grow. In fact, somewhere in the middle of this season I developed an anxiety disorder.

    I’m a thinker by nature, so it’s very difficult for me when emotions get in the driver’s seat. A full-blown anxiety disorder let me know that emotions were not only in the driver’s seat, they had taken control of the whole car. They were messing with the signals, knocking the mirrors out of position, and stripping the gears at every opportunity.

    Anxiety fixates you on the things that make you anxious, intensifying everything hundredfold. More times than I would care to admit, anxiety made me afraid to leave our house. It’s extremely hard to be out in public when your emotions and nerves feel like a frayed live wire bouncing around a puddle of water.

    Photo by Mikhail Nilov

    When I did go out, things didn’t always go well. Once at Costco, I burst into tears at the checkout counter. I was utterly and completely mortified. Having to explain to the very concerned checker that I was crying because I have an anxiety disorder and I had reached my limit for being out in public, was almost worse than the anxiety itself. I thought I was seriously broken, like unfixable broken. It terrified me.

    There are a lot of things that are helping to get me through the anxiety of this season. God’s presence in my life; the grace, mercy, and love that He pours abundantly into us, has been my foundation. I have the blessing of my family and the love we share, a good counselor, supportive friends, and a good church. In addition, there are three things that helped me recover that I want to share.

    1) I’m not broken beyond repair. I am wounded and grieving. I have good reason to be grieving. I need to stop fighting it. I need to let grief do the work that God gave us the gift of grief to do. I need to let God heal me.

    The thought that I was broken beyond repair, immobilized me. I have come to realize that, however intense and seemingly out of control the emotions I am experiencing are, they aren’t an indication that I am broken. They are an indication that there are things I need to address. They are legitimate and normal. Realizing this was a massive relief. Understanding that God was using these emotions to heal me was liberating.

    Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi

    2) I must utilize the resources God has given me. Instead of fixating on anxiety, I can fix my eyes on Him. Jesus is always available to help us for however long the storm rages.  Short storm, long storm, it does not matter. He is always in the boat with me. I just need to recognize this and ask for His help. (Matt 8:23-27)

    The single most powerful weapon against anxiety is the Word of God. Instead of fearing the storm, I get to practice taking Him at His word. I get to stand on His promises. He is faithful to keep His promises. He will not let me down and He will not let me drown.

    3) I can turn everyone and everything over to Him.

    It’s incredibly hard to move forward when you are carrying the weight of everything you should have surrendered to God. I don’t have to figure it all out or try to bring it all under control. I can give it to the God who can speak to the storm and calm the waves (Mark 4:35-41). I can cast my cares, concerns, and anxiety on Him. (1 Peter 5:7) I can surrender everything that is creating anxiety in my life to the one who offers to relieve my burden.

    Photo by Tara Winstead

     “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” Matt 11:29-30.

    Anxiety began to leave when I started practicing casting my cares on Him and obeying the command in Phil 4:6-7 to bring everything to Him in prayer. Anxiety is being replaced by the peace that comes from God. A peace, not like the flimsy peace the world gives, that disintegrates at the first round of attacks. But real peace that rebuffs the attacks, peace that passes all understanding, the peace that Jesus promised us in John 14:26-27.

    There are still days where anxiety jumps in the driver’s seat, but they are getting less and less. I am getting better at letting Him take the driver’s seat since I discovered there’s not enough room in the car for anxiety and God. I am beginning to feel tendrils of hope sprouting in my soul again. It’s nice.

    I am coming to understand that the way to survive and even recover from an anxiety disorder is to turn everything over to Him, and learn from Him. I am learning to let Him teach me whatever lessons seasons like this have to teach me, and to keep my eyes fixed on Him. I am learning to receive the peace He gives. I am learning how to leave anxiety behind and embrace life even in the midst of the worst trials.

    Photo by David Alberto Carmona Coto

  • 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!

  • THE PROMISE OF A NEW YEAR

    Photo by Rakicevic Nenad

    2 Corinthians 1:20 “For as many as the promises of God are, in Christ they are all answered with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ our “Amen” ascends to God for His glory.”

    The end of 2020 is something we have ALL been looking forward to with great anticipation. With all its chaos, stress and difficulty, 2020 couldn’t end soon enough. Yet with each new challenge, it seemed like 2020 would NEVER end.  Well, 2021 is FINALLY here! The promise of a new year is always exciting.  The possibilities a new year holds, makes the change in the calendar cause for celebration and hope. Coming out of the year we have had; the possibility of hope seems that much more exciting and vital.

    Yet despite the change in the calendar, little else has actually changed.  We are still dealing with COVID and all its myriad of physical, social and financial issues. Though last year’s tragedies have highlighted racial issues, we have yet to send the demon of racism back to the pit of hell from whence it came. We are still dealing with added stress in work, finances, marriage, family life and relationships in general and yet…

     We cannot afford to abandon the promise of a new year! 

    Each new year holds promise because time itself is a gift from God.  He gives us each year, and every year he gives us, is a year filled with the potential of what He can and WILL do in our lives. The hope of that potential is something we need to embrace ESPECIALLY after the year we have had.

    One of the ways we can embrace this potential is to remind ourselves of the promises God has made to us. So, what are some of God’s promises to us?

    • God promises His presence. He promises that whatever we face, He will be with us. He will never under any circumstances desert us or leave us defenseless. As we walk through this coming year, we can be assured that He will be beside us guiding and protecting, comforting and consoling us. No matter what, He WILL bring us though.

    Psalm 23:4

    Heb. 13:5-6

    Psalm 55: 22:

    Isaiah 41:10-13

    Isaiah 43: 1,2

    Psalm 46:1-3

    Psalm 18:2

    Psalm 55:22

    Psalm 9:9

    • God promises to bring GOOD out of every situation we face, even the worst. Whatever crap life throws at us, God will use it to grow a garden of beauty and repose in our lives. He desires to give us a life of abundance, regardless of the situations around us.

    Rom 8:28

    Jer. 29:11

    John 10:10

    2 Thes. 2:16-17

    Deut 30:9, 19-20

    1 Kings 8:56

    Psalm 23:2-3, 5

    • God promises to care for us. He will provide for us always. He promises to ease our burden and bring us a peace that transcends circumstance.

    1 Peter 5:6,7

    Matt 6:25,26

    Phil 4:6

    Matt 11:28-30

    John 14:27

    Isaiah 57:19

    Psalm 85:8

    Phil 4:7

    Psalm 128:

    • God KEEPS His promises

    Num 23:19

    2 Peter 3:9

    2 Cor. 1:20

    This coming year is overflowing with potential because God gave it to us and He is with us!  If God is for us, who or what can stand against us? NOTHING!! So, embrace the promise of the new year. It’s real! We have His word on it!