As I sit here with keyboard in my lap, my heart feels like it has lodged in my throat. Just the number of emails, texts, private messages, and phone calls I have received in the last few days sharing hurts and concerns is almost too much for my empathic heart to bear.
It’s impossible to turn on the news or glance at social media for more than a few seconds without seeing horrific images of emergency responders trying to rescue people from the devastating consequences of Mother Nature’s fury all over the United States. Yet at the same time, forecasters are attempting without success to predict the path of the next storm.
Friends, I don’t know what you are facing right now…the ravages of hurricane Harvey, the fires of the pacific northwest, the impact of hurricane Irma, prodigal children, health crises, financial crises, relationship strains, or something entirely different.
My family is right there with you, fighting many battles simultaneously. We’re facing health issues, employment issues, family in the direct path of the hurricane, and so much more all at once. But HE who is in us is greater than he who is in the world!
The enemy is screaming loudly in our ears. But I refuse to cave to his bullying, to his threats, to his LIES. The last I checked, my God is still on His throne! My God still calms storms! My God still heals! My God still raises the dead! My God said that we will do greater works than Jesus did, in Jesus’ name.
Where are we putting our faith today? We need to pray, looking at God not at our challenges. We don’t need to tell God how big our problems are, we need to tell our problems how big our God is. We need to remind the enemy that we stand on all the promises God has already declared and decreed!
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
Do you see what I see? My God will meet ALL my needs. Not some, not a few…ALL. I don’t know how, I don’t know when, but I trust He already has it worked out in His perfect way and His perfect time.
Let’s band together and unite our faith as a body of believers, believing that God is bigger than what we see, bigger than what we feel, bigger than what we hear on the news. He created the universe, He can still a storm, heal cancer, restore relationships and finances. Begin to thank Him now IN FAITH for what He is already doing.
And to bolster our faith, I’d love to hear in the comments below what you are seeing God do in your life and in your circumstances! What can we thank God for?
Because of Him, #HopePrevails
(If you have a question you’d like Dr. B to answer, contact her here now. Your name and identity will be kept confidential.)
Depression doesn’t have to become a permanent part of life.
There is hope.
Hope Prevails: Insights From a Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Depression and the companion Hope Prevails Bible Study help the reader understand how depression comes to be, recover their joy, reclaim their peace, and re-establish their true identity, while knowing their worth, remembering their secure destiny, and being confident that nothing separates them from God’s love.
Hope Prevails and the Hope Prevails Bible Study are must-reads for anyone suffering from depression or knows someone suffering from depression.
Thank-you for writing! As a counsellor who works in death and dying I feel the weight of my ability to emphasize and sometimes this compassion muscle gets fatigued. Particularly when coupled with a health crisis within my extended family. I needed to be reminded that God is with me in my personal storm.
Three years ago, the Lord brought me around the bend and healed me greatly from incest repercussions that I had repressed for decades until something profound rattled memories. He kept me alive until I was able to deal and rebuild my foundation as an adult. Now, He (as I have also seeked His face and warm embrace as now knowing Him as my loving Father) is showing me incredible things to inspire and achieve better physical health as an accident, long-term stressors, and genetics triggered a perfect storm for major autoimmune diseases plus much more. I desire to live! Despite the physical pain and limitations, I want to live! But in all honesty–even at my tender age of almost 64, I know He can create a new me physically as He has done emotionally. I believe it and receive it. However, it’s quite the journey but His joy and His peace move me forward. Loving myself is finally causing me to love my body. I have roads to go before I sleep. But whether I live or die–it is gain–for I know Him and trust Him always and no matter what. Love to you and yours.
Timely post for another 9/ 11, here in Ga. we are getting storms now from Irma, but we are safe, Jesus slept through the storm and said peace be still, the best example. I am so glad people evacuated though, that is wisdom, even if we had to stay off the freeway.
Amen! Not only are we recalling 9/11/2001 today and watching Hurricane Irma’s devastation, seeing the remnants of Harvey, but individual lives are going through other storms of all sorts. This is such a reminder to set our minds and hearts on the One Who calms the storms. Thank you.
God is greater than any storm and He can calm it or enable us to walk through it. We only have to have more faith in our God’s plan and purpose for our lives than in the storm’s pland and purpose for our lives.
Amen! I am so grateful that God continues to meet my needs and the needs of my family. My post this week is about my experience with Hurricane Irma and my need to place my fears in His capable hands. I shared a quote from Pastor David Crosby, “God often speaks His most powerful word in the midst of the storm.” The Care Effect: Unleashing the Power of Compassion. God is forever faithful! Thank you for sharing Dr. Bengtson!
We’re in Atlanta and got a surprising impact from Irma earlier this week. As I sat in the dark (without power) watching the trees bow to the fury, I got a singular word in my mind. IMMOVABLE! I am comforted for any kind of storm, knowing that nothing can move our God!
Indeed he is greater than the storm. He can calm it. I had a week that started looking impossible and ended up unbelievable. God is good.
We have friends and family in Houston and Florida. We continue to pray for everyone affected! God is faithful!
Amen! We were supposed to get a direct hit from Hurricane Irma but it thankfully took a slight turn. Psalm 46:1-2 got me through … God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
So very grateful for our Lord who supplies the strength and support we need in the midst of every circumstance. Blessings to you and yours!
Thanks for sharing such an encouraging message at Literacy Musing Mondays. I often forget just how great God is. The reminder couldn’t have come at a greater time.