Isaiah 41:13 King James Version (KJV)
For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
I remember in August 2017 when Hurricane Harvey struck Houston Texas and the surrounding cities. I happened to be at home with family and it was nearing the weekend. This was my first time ever experiencing a Hurricane, and due to the weather forecast predictions initially, my family and I were not afraid. As we were instructed not to evacuate and based on the way things were going with Harvey at the time, it did not seem to be a reason for evacuating, but soon things began to change course and unexpectedly got worse. I even recall looking out my kitchen window and observing how the water continued to rise. There were some instances when people in the neighborhood would pass by on various floating devices, and naturally, that increased my fear.
It did not help that my family from different states throughout the United States were also concerned and panicking because of news reports. Not only that but the rain and flooding changed so quickly that we were unable to evacuate. We also were unable to be rescued, as for the city I resided in advised they were only rescuing households who had water in their home, therefore I did not meet the criteria and we were expected to ride out the storm.
I thought to myself, what next? What should I do to calm the fears of my family? My mother who is legally blind, my adult children living in different cities and states but concerned about me. Lord, what do you want me to do? As I was lying in my bed in silence I began to talk to God. Seeking answers because I knew he was the only one who could guide me. Then out of nowhere the Lord spoke to my spirit and had me open my bible and led me to:
Immediately a spirit of peace came upon me. That’s when I knew I had nothing to be afraid of. I sequestered my family in my bedroom where we read and discussed Isaiah 43:2 and ended with prayer. Many were sorely impacted by Harvey, but I am thankful God protected me and my family. I learned through this experience that you must literally trust God at his word. No, I am not a fortune-teller and I had no clue what my outcome would look like. All I knew is that God was going to take care of me and my family. Once he gave me that peace that surpasses any human reasoning I could fathom, it was settled in my spirit. Yes, the calls from concerned family and friends continued but Harriet was at peace.
What I also learned from this experience is that God wants us to take a backseat and allow him to pilot our lives. He wants us to place all our fears and anxieties in his hands.
There is not one thing you can change by worrying and being afraid? It cannot help your situation, but when you surrender to God, and allow him to work out every detail, no stones goes unturned. He takes care of the things that you were worried about and afraid of, and those things you did not think about. So, give God complete control.
Right now someone is fretting over their upcoming medical diagnostic appointment, job interview, court hearing, loan application, unemployment application, whether or not they are on the lay-off list at work, if their house will go into foreclosure, how they will pay their bills, and so much more.
God is saying stop it. What are you afraid of when I told you I will take care of you?
If God rescued the three Hebrew boys, he’s going to do it for you. If God gave Cyntoia Brown clemency who was sentenced to life in prison, he’s going to do it for you.
There are so many times I read in the bible where God calmed fears and anxieties. Once God spoke, I never read where people debated if God was going to follow through on his word. Yet that is something we do often. Even in the subject passage of scripture God is calming Jacob’s fears, he doesn’t argue with God or ask questions, he just believes.
Children of God, that is what God expects us to do. Sit back and allow him to take care of our fears. Before we even bring them to him, he knows. Fear is only meant to paralyze you. Thoughts of the what-ifs bombard our minds, and in most cases what we fear never becomes a reality. Yet the enemy or ourselves causes us to go into a frenzy. Fear is mere – false – evidence – appearing – real.
God said:
Brothers and sisters in Christ we need to tackle our fears, first, by acknowledging they exist, then, go to God and tell him about your fears. Third, once God speaks you must surrender and trust him. Last, if those fears resurface begin to meditate on his word and focus on what is true not the false – evidence – appearing – real.
Be Blessed!