I’M HURTING for a friend going through what seems to be one traumatic experience after another. What do you do when someone you love is going through relentless personal tragedy? Their broken heart becomes your personal pain. Ties that bond relationships are the conduit that carry emotions straight to our hearts. Has this ever happened to you? It’s natural to want to take a sponge and wash away everything upsetting their life, and let’s face it, distressing yours too. Think about that for a moment. Does helpless describe it? Maybe even hopeless?
I have no explanation for it, but I gravitate toward the book of Isaiah when I’m feeling helpless and hopeless. Maybe not the whole book, but if you’ve ever read through it, maybe you also felt the embrace of God’s power as you read through passages. Maybe your life is in turmoil right now or someone you love is overwhelmed in personal trauma. Isaiah 43:1-3 offers encouragement to keep going. ““Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God.”
Does this mean that everything causing pain will magically disappear or that the issue will resolve itself without effort? We wish. Right, but sadly, it doesn’t mean that. What it does mean, though, is that fear and worry serve no purpose. This is where we say as Isaiah 12:2 “Look, God is my deliverer! I will trust in him and not fear. For the Lord gives me strength and protects me.” It’s so very hard to let God pry open our hands to remove the fear, isn’t it? It’s like problems turn our hands into magnets.
I encourage you right now to open your hand and give whatever is in your grip to God. Let him have it. I’m saying this to myself as well because God wants me to give my fears to him and he wants whatever is holding back my complete trust to be relinquished to his control. Listen, God gets to decide anyway, so just give it up. No fear – like Isaiah 41:10 reminds us “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”
If you’ve been reading most of my posts lately, you might be tired of Isaiah because I keep going back to the verses that speak to me when I feel like I’m walking a crazy path. Isaiah is the book where we come to understand just how powerful and significant God is. Look it up on Isaiah 40. God measures all the elements of this Earth and holds the waters in the palm of his hand. Isaiah 40:12. “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?” That’s your God.
Don’t listen when the enemy of your soul tells you how big your problems are. Tell him how big your God is.
Ready team? This is the day – where you stand is your mission field. Let’s get out there.
Ready to be an Overcomer? Mandisa helps us get out there and get over whatever is dragging us down:
