Drowning in FEAR but COVERED with GRACE!

Happy Thanksgiving, dear ones! ‘Tis a season of gratitude and reflection!

Usually, we like to list easy and good things to be thankful for. God has taught me this week to even be grateful to feel overwhelmed, defeated, and fearful. Strong, ugly, unsettling emotions like these can crush us. They empty us of ourselves and any “strength” we thought to possess on our own. Yep, that is right where God wants us! In that state we are READY for HIM. Do not fear; what beauty and joy He can produce from such pain and misery!

At age 42 I am still getting to know who I am, especially my weaknesses. It’s ironic how “put together” we can seem in one moment and in another so broken and lost. This has been a week of UNCOMFORTABILITY. As a mom, my children have challenged me in their attitudes and in their identities. It may sound trite or negligible, but as some of their interests develop and change, I am left wondering if I still know my children! Fear and anxiety creep in when their old passions begin to be replaced. I want to scream, “Don’t stop doing ____________ because mommy is not ready to close that chapter!” I have had my tears, a lot of them this week. Can one learn to be comfortable in the uncomfortable? For sure it isn’t natural feeling content in the midst of life’s disappointments and trials. When I come to the end of myself is where finally I can see God has and had it all to begin with.

One of the best practices I started is beginning my day early and giving God thanks and praise through a gratitude list. It really helps if I am outside, even if I’m covered in a blanket and jacket for a few minutes! Try it out today. Over the past week this is my list:

1. His Word
2. Warm socks
3. An ace bandage (foot injury)!
4. Wooly sweaters
5. Green lush grass
6. Sweet friendships
7. Rocking chairs
8. Marvelous sun
9. Garbage trucks (guess what day it was when I wrote that)!
10. Painted rocks that say “MOM” (from my daughter)
11. The small bodies of my children
12. Colors
13. A porch to sit on
14. Bones that heal
15. A gray sky
16. Rain
17. My little Davin playing Christmas carols on the piano
18. Blankets
19. My ukulele
20. Books
21. Brains to think and understand
22. Ambulance sirens and trucks=help is on the way
23. Barren trees=another season is being born!
24. Cloudy skies
25. Birds chirping to wake up the day!
26. Quietness
27. Stillness
28. Vibrant orange pumpkins
29. Children to sing His praises!
30. Thanksgiving Day=my favorite day of the year!

Let us never stop giving our great God the thanks and praise He deserves! One person said to me this week that asking God to save us and take us to heaven is an utterly selfish request. Initially it may appear that way, and I did remark that those who only want “Fire insurance” (get out of hell free cards) most likely don’t know or love God to begin with.

On the flipside, in God’s view we are His beloved creations. In His Word it says He desires for us to become His children and for none to perish. As a family we have been reading this week in the Bible about the concept of humility. It is an elusive attribute, as the moment you think you have it, that achievement could go to your head! We learned that humility is not our tendency or instinct, rather it is a cultivated virtue. Giving your life to Jesus and knowing only by His blood can we be redeemed is an act of ultimate humility and surrender. Our identity becomes HIM through and through! The verse in Galatians 2:20 below rings loud and clear:

I am CRUCIFIED with CHRIST and I NO LONGER LIVE, but CHRIST LIVES IN ME.

Now HE is our identity, my friends! May this bring peace and comfort to hearts that fear the constant changes life throws at us: small children growing, old interests fading, and familiar souls leaving this earth.

My prayer: May we grow and become people after God’s heart, grounded in HIM as our ONE TRUE IDENTITY in a culture that tries to define us in a million other ways. WE ARE HIS. THAT is enough because HE is MORE than enough. Fear is a liar. We can be covered in His GRACE. Seek the solace only He can provide.

Take a minute to listen to the song below by Zach Williams. It contains the lyrics:

Fear, he is a liar
He will take your breath
Stop you in your steps
Fear, he is a liar
He will rob your rest
Steal your happiness
Cast your fear in the fire
‘Cause fear, he is a liar

We don’t follow liars, we follow JESUS. Be free in Him today! REJOICE and be glad. HAPPY THANKSGIVING, dear ones!