Feeling Fear...

                             Do not fear,
                   for I am with you.        
                          
                                                                        -Isaiah 41:10

Words usually come easily to me, yet sitting there in that meeting I was speechless. My heart was pounding, and I was looking around at my colleagues. 

One gentleman I have known for years had his head in his hands. His face was going back and forth in disbelief. He was stunned. In all of these years I had never seen him quite so vulnerable. 

Yet it wasn't the situation that had him shaking his head. After all, the news had been in the paper and there had been multiple meetings talking about it. 

This didn't come as a surprise.

What had him shaking his head was that someone in leadership would be a forecaster of fear and doom.

Yes, the circumstances are difficult, no doubt about it.
Yet we always, and I mean always, get to choose between faith and fear. Between hard work and giving up. 

Fear can sink a ship. It can cripple a country. It can stop people in their tracks almost paralyzing them.

Fear can predict hopelessness and catastrophe. It can pretend to foresee the events ahead, and it says they will be awful. 

Really awful.

Fear can give you reason to quit. Stop trying. Stop believing.

Please understand, I know that things can be so, so hard.
I know that things can turn life upside down. I know that.
I have been there. Right now I am fighting fear in several
very difficult areas in my own life.

I know that fear can take over. What ifs can rule and sap every little bit of energy we have. I know that when things are bleak and hard that we often have to dig very, very deep to find hope. We often have to dig very, very deep to find the energy to work harder.

Yet I also know this with every cell of my body. I know what God says about fear.

God says:

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
                                                 {Isaiah 41:10 NIV}

God does not say that we won't feel fear. We will. Yet He
says with all certainty... 

You are not alone when fear strikes.

I, the Lord God Almighty, the one who created Heaven and earth, am with you. Period. End of story.

He promises:
I am with you.
Do not dismay, I am your God.
I will strengthen you.
I will uphold you.

These are not iffy promises. These are not maybe I will and maybe I won't be there. These are not statements of uncertainty or wishy washy claims.

These are promises.
God's promises.
They are statements of fact!

So back to that meeting and predictions of doom and gloom.
What I know for sure is that the person saying this is fearful, 
in fact filled with great fear and uncertainty. The person may not know God's love or strength. They may not know that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. They may not know me, really know me, and that I take my working orders from the One on High. I am keeping this person in my prayers so that they might know God's love and power over fear.

*God calls me to trust Him, and that's exactly what I intend to do. 

*God calls me to fear not, so I am telling fear to "be gone"!

*God calls me to know that He is in charge and when I feel 
  fearful, He will strengthen me and not let me sink into despair. 

Fear will not win. God will win.

This morning, as I prepare to go to worship Him in His house, I am filled with gratitude. I am so grateful that I know God loves me and is here with me, no matter how hard things get. I am so grateful that when I feel fearful, and I often have fear creep into my heart, that I can tell fear to "be gone!"

The Lord God Almighty has spoken, and I believe Him!
He is the great I AM, and I am His beloved child!

Amen and Amen!!
God Bless!
Love, Linda