Our circumstances may not be good, but our God is.
These are the words that have been keeping me sane lately.
Just like the next person, I have no idea what God’s plan is for this mind-bogglingly crazy time. But I do know one thing—He can only move if we let Him.
Over the last few weeks, I have been meeting with a group of young girls who I lead through my church’s youth ministry via Zoom. Even though the change in our circumstances has been difficult to manage at times, God has used the distance to bring the group closer to each other, and to Him than ever.
Through deep-diving into scripture in preparation for these meetings, there has been a multitude of light-bulb moments which have taught me a lot about what a relationship with God actually looks like, in very real ways.
I hope that they will help to bring a little light to your life today.
Where are you running?
I said, “I will watch my ways
and keep my tongue from sin;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
while in the presence of the wicked.”
So I remained utterly silent,
not even saying anything good.
But my anguish increased;
my heart grew hot within me. -Psalm 39:1-3
Psalm 39 gives us a little bit of insight into David’s heart during a very tumultuous time.
During this time, David’s fear of saying something that could be perceived as ‘unwise’ meant that he avoided attempting to say anything wise at all.
When I first read this, I must admit that I was pretty unimpressed with David. But shortly after, I realised that I actually do the same thing on a regular basis—and that left me a little bit shook.
Instead of trusting God to carry us through, we flail around in desperate search of distractions that will keep us from having to feel or acknowledge the fear in our hearts.
But here’s the thing—if we let that fear dwell in our hearts, we say goodbye to any chance of fulfilling God’s plan for us.
If your intention is to escape fear, why are you running to the very things that create it? To escape fear, we need to seek refuge in the only place that it doesn’t exist.
Questions to ponder:
- What are you most afraid of?
- How can you overcome fear without acquiring more of it?
Where are you dwelling?
If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent. – Psalm 91:9-10
Here’s the thing—even though many of us know that God is a place of no fear, we have no idea how to align ourselves with Him long-term.
Psalm 91 says that God protects those who dwell in His shelter.
Dwelling does not mean dropping by for a cup of tea and a game of Scrabble once a week.
Dwelling means living in His goodness. It means choosing to trust Him with everything, every single day.
He can only protect you if you want Him to. If you continue to put your trust in movable things, you will move right along with them.
As every pastor has said at least once, “He knocks on the door of your heart every day, but you have to choose to let Him in”.
The answer is to simply open that door, every single day. That’s really it.
We are protected under His wings.
Questions to ponder:
- Do you dwell with God, or pop in for a visit?
- How can you continue to dwell with God in tough times?
Who is with you?
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20
The last thing Jesus says on this Earth is that He is with us.
“I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
He is with us at home, when we’re out and about, during the best and the toughest moments of our lives.
Remember this:
Our callings don’t end just because our social lives look a bit different now.
During this time, I challenge you to step out of your comfort zone. Challenge yourself to grow in whatever area God places on your heart—with His help, amazing things will happen.
His wings don’t just cover us when we sit in our nests. We must continue to live boldly, even when the world doesn’t make it easy.
Questions to ponder:
- Where is God calling you?
- How can you continue to pursue this at home?
There is a plan for this season, and even though we don’t know what that is yet, it’s up to us to make the most of it.
Photo by Mehdi Sepehri on Unsplash.
