Some days, fear has this grip on me. Anxiety and worry take its toll and I find it hard to breathe. I can feel it in my skin, literally. Every once in a while, I get the shingles. Shingles isn’t just for old folks, apparently. Shingles can happen to worry warts, too.
But, I’m a child of God. A little girl who belongs to a Great King. A Great King who never worries about a thing because He’s the biggest and the strongest. And I’ve got these promises.
“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deut. 33:27)
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble…
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” (Psalm 46:1,7)
So, I run to my Refuge and I hide in my Strong Tower and I just sit still and remember what I’ve got in Him. I’ve got a Helper. A Helper who’s always just right here. Right now. Right when I need Him most. And I might trip and stumble and fall head long, but I’m okay because underneath me are His everlasting arms. I am eternally His. I can never fall away from Him. Nothing, no nothing, can snatch me from His hands.
Nothing can separate me from His love.
I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. (from Romans 8:38-39)
And there’s also this knowing that whatever pain or trials or heart-ache come my way, I can radically trust the heart of my Father because He wastes nothing. He’s using all of it, every bit, to conform me to His image. To make me more like Him. I can say with confidence that my God is good. And everything He does is good. He is always for me. He is always with me. And I am deeply loved.
So, I smile quiet when the world warps. Because I’ve reoriented myself on Him—the Center of all things. He whose very name is a strong tower. I run to Him and I’m soul-safe. (see Proverbs 18:10)
