Will it really be okay?
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Lately, the heaviness of the world feels like it is sitting on my chest. I feel the panic rise some days, and I have to go back to what I know. God's Word.
When this feeling comes up through my chest cavity and into my throat feeling like I will most likely suffocate, I recite God's Word. Over and over.
Immediately the panic is gone.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. Hebrews 4:12
A few nights ago, I escaped to our back porch. The sky was pitch black except for the sliver of a bright and shining moon. I gasped when I saw the moon. So bright. So captivating. So affirming.
God is light, there is no darkness in Him at all. 1 John 1:5
As I stared at the moon and heard the words of 1 John repeating in my head over and over, my heart was washed over in peace.
Everything is going to be okay.
Everything is going to be okay.
Everything is going to be okay.
I felt the same way I did when my mother would tuck me in at night when I was a scared and frightened little girl. She would always say, "It's okay baby. Everything is just fine."
The warmth of her words washed over me.
Just as the warmth of God's Words washes over me.
I cannot be fearful when I am saying His Words.
I cannot be scared when His Word is being spoken, whispered into the depths of my spirit.
I cannot worry what tomorrow will bring when I know that He has tomorrow in His hands.
Do I think He doesn't know what I need? What my family needs? What our nation needs? What our world needs?
...for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Matthew 6:8
It feels good to ask Him though.
It feels good to say, "Lord, is it going to be alright? Do you see our need? Do you see the state of our world? It will be okay, right?"
Just as a child asks her mother, we ask the Lord.
It affirms our faith.
It shows our dependence on Him when we can just stop dead in our tracks and say, "Lord, it will be okay, right?"
We need to talk to Him. We need to tell Him how we are feeling. We need to shed the thousand pound weight of worry on our hearts. We need to unload it on Him. He can handle it. But, we cannot.
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." Matthew 11:29-30
The truth is, I have no idea what will happen. No idea.
But, God does.
My job is to be still, and know that He is God. And pray.
Worrying, fretting, and incessantly talking about the fears we have, is not being still. It is in fact, quite the opposite.
We are to have a deep knowing of God's Hand in all things.
Our times are in His hands. Psalm 31:15
I am reminded of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. As she sat at the cross where her perfect Son was being crucified, tortured, laughed at, mocked, spat upon...
She was still. Quiet. Prayerful.
She could have wailed, pitched a fit, made a scene, plead His case....
Yet, she sat still.
Mary had a knowing.
A knowing that could of only come from her faith in Jesus.
She knew it would all be okay.
Surely, it didn't look okay in the moment...
Yet, she knew.
She trusted God enough to know that this was not the end.
Her faith kept her still, quiet, and prayerful.
Mary was able to see the fruit of her faith just a few short days later, when she would see Jesus in His Glorious arisen state. But, she also had to see the absolute worst of scenarios right up until then.
Our children are watching us. Our neighbors are watching us. The world is watching us.
What will we do?
Will we panic? Will be feverishly try to figure out the outcome? Will we lose sleep, worry incessantly, and drive ourselves to a mad state of mind?
Or, will we be still. Quiet. Prayerful.
Knowing, that all things work together for our good. [Romans 8:28]
choosing stillness,
jill
Contact SHINE: Go here.
Follow SHINE on Instagram: @shinegirlsshine.com
Lately, the heaviness of the world feels like it is sitting on my chest. I feel the panic rise some days, and I have to go back to what I know. God's Word.
When this feeling comes up through my chest cavity and into my throat feeling like I will most likely suffocate, I recite God's Word. Over and over.
Immediately the panic is gone.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. Hebrews 4:12
A few nights ago, I escaped to our back porch. The sky was pitch black except for the sliver of a bright and shining moon. I gasped when I saw the moon. So bright. So captivating. So affirming.
God is light, there is no darkness in Him at all. 1 John 1:5
As I stared at the moon and heard the words of 1 John repeating in my head over and over, my heart was washed over in peace.
Everything is going to be okay.
Everything is going to be okay.
Everything is going to be okay.
I felt the same way I did when my mother would tuck me in at night when I was a scared and frightened little girl. She would always say, "It's okay baby. Everything is just fine."
The warmth of her words washed over me.
Just as the warmth of God's Words washes over me.
I cannot be fearful when I am saying His Words.
I cannot be scared when His Word is being spoken, whispered into the depths of my spirit.
I cannot worry what tomorrow will bring when I know that He has tomorrow in His hands.
Do I think He doesn't know what I need? What my family needs? What our nation needs? What our world needs?
...for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Matthew 6:8
It feels good to ask Him though.
It feels good to say, "Lord, is it going to be alright? Do you see our need? Do you see the state of our world? It will be okay, right?"
Just as a child asks her mother, we ask the Lord.
It affirms our faith.
It shows our dependence on Him when we can just stop dead in our tracks and say, "Lord, it will be okay, right?"
We need to talk to Him. We need to tell Him how we are feeling. We need to shed the thousand pound weight of worry on our hearts. We need to unload it on Him. He can handle it. But, we cannot.
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." Matthew 11:29-30
The truth is, I have no idea what will happen. No idea.
But, God does.
My job is to be still, and know that He is God. And pray.
Worrying, fretting, and incessantly talking about the fears we have, is not being still. It is in fact, quite the opposite.
We are to have a deep knowing of God's Hand in all things.
Our times are in His hands. Psalm 31:15
I am reminded of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. As she sat at the cross where her perfect Son was being crucified, tortured, laughed at, mocked, spat upon...
She was still. Quiet. Prayerful.
She could have wailed, pitched a fit, made a scene, plead His case....
Yet, she sat still.
Mary had a knowing.
A knowing that could of only come from her faith in Jesus.
She knew it would all be okay.
Surely, it didn't look okay in the moment...
Yet, she knew.
She trusted God enough to know that this was not the end.
Her faith kept her still, quiet, and prayerful.
Mary was able to see the fruit of her faith just a few short days later, when she would see Jesus in His Glorious arisen state. But, she also had to see the absolute worst of scenarios right up until then.
Our children are watching us. Our neighbors are watching us. The world is watching us.
What will we do?
Will we panic? Will be feverishly try to figure out the outcome? Will we lose sleep, worry incessantly, and drive ourselves to a mad state of mind?
Or, will we be still. Quiet. Prayerful.
Knowing, that all things work together for our good. [Romans 8:28]
choosing stillness,
jill
