fear. worry. trust?

I've had this burden on my heart for the past week. And I've decided to share it...

Fear. To many of us it's just an emotion, coming and going as our lives get harder and harder. Worry. For most of us it's just an everyday feeling, consuming us without our knowledge.

Trust. Now that's a hard one..........

Lately I have been letting struggles of this world completely take over my mind. I have been convincing myself that life is just too hard, and because of this, fear and worry just seem normal and necessary. How could I convince myself of such a lie?!

We all do it. Our human nature is to worry and to be fearful of what might happen next. So many things in this world tell us we should worry and fear for the future. You can't even open a newspaper or flip to the evening news without having worry tug at your heart. It seems there is no hope and no way things can get better. But there is...

We have been given a precious gift. His name is Jesus. Because of His love for us, He died on the cross so that we might live. He gave us hope. He gave us a way. By dying, He saved us from the struggles and the lies of this world. Through His grace, we have nothing to worry about. Nothing. There is not one fear that should creep inside of our minds. Jesus is the reason for us to have peace.

Peace. That's a word we don't hear too often, huh? We fill our minds with what we are forced to hear each day- "downturn", "foreclosure", "crisis", etc. Sound familiar? What if I told you that through everything you could possibly go through- if you lost everything and everyone most precious to you- you have nothing to worry about. You have nothing to fear. Sounds impossible right? It's not. It's at your reach. It's staring you in the face. There is therefore NO condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:1) Our Father in heaven loves us so much, that He took it all away from us. Every worry, every fear. Through Christ, we are alive. We are completely and unfathomably saved. Forever.

It's so easy to get lost inside our problems. It's so easy to take this gift for granted. Why do we do this to ourselves? We have been given a chance to have peace through every single struggle we go through, and we choose to do it the hard way. Ugh. What are we doing? Everytime I'm faced with a struggle, I now close my eyes and just ask God to show me His peace. I take few deep breaths, and open my eyes. You won't believe how much this helps.

Let Him in. Let Him lead. You will never be able to understand how much He loves you. Have peace of mind and heart knowing He will always provide and give you what you need. Always.

I leave you with these verses:

"I am leaving you with a gift- peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid. Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really loved me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, who is greater than I am. I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe."-Jesus (John 14:27-29)

"Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ."-1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Phillipians 4:6-9


Give everything to Him. Have a great week!

undressed.

I just finished this awesome book. It's called Undressed by Jason Illian. A good friend of mine recommended it to me because I had just ended a relationship, and needed to have a fresh outlook on love. It is absolutley essential to anyone and everyone. Don't let the title mislead you. No matter what your circumstance, (single, married, in a relationship, about to end a relationship, etc.) this book will speak to you. I highly recommend it. If you read it, let me know what you think! :)

Happy Sunday!