I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately. Not with life itself, but with an upcoming event that has me feeling a type of way I didn’t know I felt until the Lord brought it to my attention. With the holidays coming up, I’m usually excited and eager to have family over and hang out and have fun, but this one has me a little down.
I noticed this feeling last week when I started thinking about the things I had planned for myself. I totally didn’t even think about Thanksgiving until my grandma called me and told me not to buy a turkey. I was actually excited thinking I didn’t have to cook but remembered I said I’d host. Big mistake.
This week has been a week where I feel like I’m about to lose my mind. I’m almost worried about the effect as I am about the actual event and I don’t like feeling that way. It’s almost like I’m about to lose a piece of me.
I remember how I felt last time something like this happened, and it’s bringing back ill feelings again, that I’m shaking just typing about it. As I sit at Panera Bread, I could feel a sense that the Lord was trying to tell me something, but ignored it for a moment because I was actually unsure if it was the coffee, Dutch Bros is strong y’all, or if it was really the Lord.
I was so wrapped up in what I was doing, that it took me a minute to realize that He was the one making me feel the way I was. When I took a pause and started to say, thank you Lord, I realized He was talking to me. He tells me:
You need to keep me at the center, if you lose track of who I am in your life you will be lost, like a ship without a sail, going where the wind blows, not where I lead you, I have better plans for your life.
Don’t lose sight of me, Hold on to Me, I have never let you go and I never will
Strengthen our relationship,
Make us strong
Don’t try to plan your day without Me in it, it won’t work that way
I know you feel lost and worried about what is to come, but remember who I am
He’s going to be alright You’re going to be alright
You will discover more about yourself as you have this time away from each other
It’s not to discourage you, but to remember what your focus should be,
As you let me lead you, you will see a lot of things unfold things you didn’t think would happen,
You don’t need anyone else to help you accomplish it, I’ve already put it in you
You’ve had it all along, you just needed to be reminded that it’s there
I keep telling you to trust Me,
I need you to do that You are never alone,
I am always with you
Let me show you
To say that the Lord knows us is an understatement. He knows us better than we know ourselves. It’s a little crazy to think that I didn’t realize this was affecting me the way it was because this isn’t the first time it’s happened, and it won’t be the last.
It’s crazy for me to worry, knowing who my God is. It’s crazy for me to allow this sadness to come over me knowing God has my back, but not just my back, He has my family’s back.
It’s crazy for me to think that if I don’t bring these feelings to Him, they will consume me. I am not to hold on to feelings that bring me sadness, make me upset, or try to get me depressed.
Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things (Philippians 4:8).
As a believer, I am to believe what the word of God says and to hold on to those words during difficult times. When the testing comes, it’s easy to forget how to fight. We must remember that satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but God’s word has all the tools we need to win.
