MY BLOGS

The next two weeks on my calendar are gloomy and overwhelming—deadlines at work with weekend work scheduled in addition to more self-imposed deadlines for home projects. Do I have enough energy and resources to cope? What if I fail to accomplish my goals?

Battles continue to rage in my mind: Trust vs worry? Fear vs confidence? Full of pain vs free of pain?

How do I fight these battles?

1. Identify the stressors, fears, worries, and doubts in your life by pouring your thoughts out on paper. As we write, the subconscious mind spills over into the conscious and our innermost thoughts untangle through our fingertips.

2. Remind ourselves who we are in Christ—free, forgiven, chosen, not forsaken. With Jesus’s death and resurrection, the price for our souls was fully paid, the bondage of sin was broken, the prison walls of fear arounds us were demolished, and the grip of anxiety was released.

3. Believe in this abundance of freedom, revel in it, declare out loud that “I am a child of God and no longer a slave of fear” and live life to the fullest.

Because of Jesus we “may have life, and have it abundantly” and experience freedom from the oppressing phantoms of fear and worry. We break down the prison walls to experience peace and joy amidst the most hectic of all circumstances.

God uses these huge and overwhelming workloads to remind us that He is our God and we will overcome the world as He did. Am I going to fight these battles on my own? Or will I trust him despite this mountain in front of me?

The answer is always yes! Yes, I trust Him for who He is and not for what he can provide for me. I pray Jesus’s Gethsemane prayer: “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” *** And I know with confidence that he will renew my energy and strength in the midst of my battle with my deadlines, because He is compassionate and faithful, and his love is all-enduring. Though I may not see the light at the end of my struggles, I will still be okay.

Does trusting God mean that I can now sit back, relax, and think the work will get done by itself? No, I still need to make the plan, and work the plan by being a good steward of the resources He provides.

***Mark 14:36 (NLT)