“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening” Psalm 92:1-2.

When fear strikes, my first defense should be to remember how God has dealt with me kindly in the past and to be thankful for how he will go before me now. He has not spared me from all sorrow, but he has allowed me to grow stronger and wiser. He has restrained the enemy and provided for all my needs. He has led me with a loving hand through dark valleys and brought me into the sunshine.

The Lord has been my savior, provider and protector, and my heart will be always filled with gratitude for the blessings he has generously given to me. I should never give into fear, but respond to life’s trials with praise: “Thank you, Lord, for you already know what I need and are at work to provide it. I will wait and see what you will do.”

And in those rare moments when I face no great struggles, when all is quiet, my heart bows humbly before the Lord to thank him for this gift. I don’t take it for granted.

A prayer journal is a great way to document how God has provided answers and met needs. A gratitude journal is another way to open our eyes to the blessings that surround us. It’s so easy to focus on the things we lack or the things we fear and to overlook the abundance already in our lives.

God deserves our thanks much more often than once a year!

“When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose name I praise, in God I trust”
Psalm 56:3-4.

If love is the most powerful force on earth, fear follows as a close second. It directly impacts the decisions we make every day. And while some fears are God-given and act as a safeguard to prevent us from doing foolish or harmful things, other fears are from the enemy and restrict and inhibit us from living abundant lives that honor and reflect God.

These kinds of dark fears creep in and take control of our thoughts. We lose sleep over them. How will I pay the bills next month? How can I handle the person who is out to get me? What if something bad happens to my loved one? What if my car breaks down? What if I fail—again? Did all my clothes shrink or am I getting fat?

I assume I’m not the only one with this kind of interior monologue running through my head as it rests sleeplessly on the pillow. Fear can be so powerful that it dictates our lives; or we can take a deep breath and turn it over to the Creator, the Lover of our Souls. God will provide for all of my needs—he always has. And he will go before me and clear a path and whisper the directions in my ear, if only I will listen.

When I am afraid, I must quiet my fears and let only one voice speak to my heart: that still, small voice that assures me of his loving presence in my life.

“I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled… Lord, please! Send anyone else.” Exodus 4: 10b and 13 NLT

Why would anyone choose to stay in a small life when the opportunity for a big destiny exists? I’ll tell you in one word: Fear. Fear of being unworthy, fear of inadequacy, and fear of failure… What if I try and I just mess up? Everyone will notice and I’ll be so humiliated.

There are those who do everything they can to be the center of attention. But then there are others who avoid the limelight because they feel insignificant and incapable. Although these two approaches may seem polar opposite, they actually have something in common: the focus is on self.

Moses tried to tell God again in Exodus 6:12, “My own people won’t listen to me anymore. How can I expect Pharaoh to listen? I’m such a clumsy speaker!” But God had chosen Moses to be his spokesperson and would empower him to fulfill this task. God didn’t ask Moses to be a great orator, he asked him to be obedient.

As I struggle with this attitude, God has convicted me that my focus should be on serving him and bringing honor and glory to his name—not worrying about potential embarrassment. I’m sure I won’t do everything perfectly, but God is asking for obedience, not perfection. In II Corinthians 12:9 the Lord instructs Paul: “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” Despite my many failings, God can still use me to advance his kingdom if I live in obedience to him.

“Let us throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” Hebrews 12:1 NIV.

“Monsters vs. Aliens” is the movie of the month at my house. Susan was hit by a meteor just minutes before her wedding. During the ceremony, Susan grows to incredible heights as a result of the chemicals absorbed. The army locks her away in a top secret facility for monsters, changing her name to Ginormica. The only thing she can think about during her imprisonment is the life she was supposed to have with Derek.

When an alien robot lands in San Francisco, the President promises to grant the monsters their freedom in exchange for fighting the robot. Susan discovers her strength in the battle, and returns home a hero.

But she doesn’t receive a warm welcome from her fiancé, Derek. He reveals who he had been all along: a selfish jerk who is concerned only with his career. “Why did I have to get hit by a meteor to see that?” Susan wonders in disgust. She then vows, “I’ll never shortchange myself again!” But the story doesn’t end there. Her newfound confidence and sense of identity are soon tested by the evil alien, Galaxar.

Watching it for 15th time, I wondered how many of us are missing out on a big destiny because we can’t see the things that are holding us back. It might be unhealthy relationships, habits or ideas. My prayer is that God will hit you over the head with a meteor because he loves you too much to leave you in small life.

“No one whose hope is in you, Lord, will ever be put to shame” Psalm 25:3 NIV.

As I wait for God to work out the things I cannot control in my life, I remember the Hebrew enslavement in Egypt. They had been slaves for what seemed like forever and all the sudden Moses shows up and says: “I’m here to bust you out.” They probably felt a new and powerful hope surge through them. Freedom!

But then he goes before the Pharaoh, and they don’t get set free. They’re made to work harder. In fact, every time Moses goes to the Pharaoh to ask for their freedom, something bad happens. Now they’re thinking, “Maybe we should just let things be.”

Sometimes, it seems, living in slavery is easier because I know what to expect. But when I suddenly have hope of immediate delivery—only to be disappointed again and again—I begin to not only lose hope, but grow bitter and resentful. “Nothing’s ever going to change.” And I refuse to get my hopes up again.

The hope-disappointment cycle is emotionally exhausting. But as we know, the Hebrew slaves were eventually given their freedom. How do we live with hope in the presence of disappointment?

Well, what did God actually promise you and me? First of all, he promised to always be with us. This gives me the hope that whatever happens, God will give me the strength to endure it. Secondly, he gave the promise of future blessing to those who are faithful. Now I have to—uh-oh!—wait patiently and keep my emotions under submission.

“Though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. And if I must die, I must die” Esther 4:16c (NLT).
When Sarah made the decision to produce an heir through unconventional means, she was trying to take control of her life to achieve a desired result. At the heart of this decision was the fear that God would not give her a child and the assumption that she could not be happy without one.

In contrast, Esther chose to go before the king to plead for her people knowing that the result could well be her own immediate death. Esther was afraid of the consequences, but she came to a profound decision.

She chose to accept whatever God gave her. Unlike Sarah, who tried to manipulate life to give her the desires of her heart. Which leads to a difficult question: who am I more like, Sarah or Esther? If God denies me all that I dream, can I still trust him and be happy?

Can I wait to see if the Lord will give or withhold his blessings, and can I accept whatever he gives me? Honestly, if I could manipulate life to give me what I wish, I would be tempted to try it. But what would I forfeit with my impatience?

When I surrender all of my life and dreams, there is peace in knowing that the God of the Universe has ordered my life with love and wisdom. Even if I don’t like his decision.

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” Psalm 27:14.

Have you ever wondered what blessings you’ve forfeited because of your impatience? What if God had something wonderful planned for you, but you grew tired of waiting and settled for something far inferior? And what if that decision to not wait, to settle for something less, had irrevocable and far reaching consequences?

Sarah wanted a baby. She didn’t know that God had planned to send her Isaac. She only knew that there was no heir to the family wealth and that it was a disgrace to have no children. So she came up with a plan to fix it.

The child that resulted from her scheme, Ishmael, born by her maidservant, Hagar, is the father of the Arab people who are still at war with the Jews today. Wow! If Sarah had only waited, she could have avoided the conflict that arose between her and Hagar, and the conflict which still exists between their descendents. In her impatience, in her failure to trust God to give or to withhold his blessing, she changed the course of history.

What have I passed up because I didn’t want to wait to see what the Lord would give me? How have I changed the course of my life? I guess I’ll never know for sure. I only know that I don’t want to let it happen again.