Standing on the Promises - by @ShelleyHendrix

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 

(Hebrews 10:23 NIV)

I'm going to keep this post short and sweet. So many of us are facing one challenge on top of another right now and just need the comfort of remembering some promises that we can hold onto while the storm passes over. 

Here are just a few that are holding me. I'd love to hear ones that are holding you. Let's comfort one another and encourage one another by:

Holding

Onto

Promises

Eternal

• "Great is Thy Faithfulness...Lord unto me."

• "You've never failed - and you won't start now."

• "I will never leave you nor forsake you." 

God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5b-6 NIV)

*****

If your heart is heavy and hurting, please let us at Church 4 Chicks know how we can pray for you. It would be our honor. You can comment here, connect with us via Facebook or Twitter, or simply email our Prayer & Care Team Leader with your request: ida@church4chicks.com

May God's promises be the anchor for your soul today and every day.

Holding onto His Promises,

Shelley

Photo by Shelley Hendrix

Getting Through this Lingering Storm - @jenniferowhite

Getting Through this Lingering Storm 

By Jennifer White

Do you feel defeated?  Is something in your life causing you to feel subdued and vulnerable?  Are your hopes frustrated, your needs deprived?  Maybe the wreckage seems catastrophic with another storm emerging on the radar.

We long for safety and a secure future.  We want now solutions that buy us victory in the battle against cancer, mental illness, unemployment, oppression, and attacks by others.  We trust that God hears our prayers.  We know that the disciples woke him up from a deep sleep on a storm-tossed boat, and He calmed the sea with a few words.  

Still, this situation, your situation, needs a savior now.  You have prayed.  You asked for God to intervene, and it’s been months, maybe years.  Why doesn’t your Savior enter stage left and tell this hurricane to be still?  

                            

Looking for an Exit Sign 

I’ve been wrestling with this myself.  My human nature sees danger and is looking for an exit sign.  My heart desires peace and is tired of pursuing it only to see the door slammed again.  Doesn’t God want me to walk away?  Doesn’t He want me to finally rest after decades of tension and “sucking it up”.   

I rationalize using this scripture and that one, as they come to me.  I hear wise counsel to act, to stand, to fight, and I still want to shut the door on this long-lasting saga.  Confusion clouds my mind, and my emotions deliver the rain.  This just needs to STOP!  

Then God speaks to me when I am quiet enough to hear Him.  Yesterday, it was in the middle of the night, when the room was dark and I had been at rest for a while.  He reminded me that David, before he became King David, spent years avoiding the vengeful pursuit of King Saul.  He endured more than I can imagine from a powerful foe that had been appointed by God.  The betrayal he must have felt, but he endured.  He even honored his enemy in a cave when he could have released years of pent up frustrations.  He held on to God’s promise that he would one day be king, and he waited.  

Can I Keep Going, Keep Hoping? 

Has God given you a promise that seems like a vacation destination you will never be able to visit?  Are you enduring a storm that rarely gives the sun a chance to shine in your life?  Do you feel like Noah building a big boat with no clue what rain is?  Do you feel like Abraham and Sarah waiting for a baby when your peers are enjoying grandchildren and great-grands?  Do you know you are called to do great things for God but find yourself thrown in a well by your family?  

Who is Driving? 

Today is the day to put fear and hopelessness in the trunk of your car and let faith drive.  This is going to take a little heavy lifting.  Fear can become obese over time and with influence.  HOWEVER, it crumbles when addressed by the reality of God, so roll up your sleeves and tell that crazy phantom who God is. 

He is your Shelter (Psalm 91:1).  

He is a Safe Place to hide (Psalm 46:1).  

He is your Defender (Psalm 18:1).  

He is your Sustainer (Colossians 1:16-17). 

He is the Gentle Shepherd (Isaiah 40:11) who prepares a table for you in the presence of your enemies (Psalm 23:5). 

He pursues you each day with perfect portions of His love, His power, and His sound mind (Psalm 23:6, 2 Timothy 1:7). 

He is enough.  He is more than enough for the length of this crazy hard time you are going through (2 Corinthians 12:9).  

Hold up your difficult person, situation, or illness to Him and see the difference in power.  Take another step forward into the unknown with your eyes on His greatness.  Take the next step in the long tunnel of darkness and know He is with you.

Let God Be God to You

Relief will come.  It might be today, next year, or when you move into the perfection of Heaven.  Until then, He is God, and He is with you and me.  He is enough.  Cling to Him.  See the storm from His perspective.

Jennifer O. White
Author.  Speaker.  Encourager at Prayerfully Speaking
@jenniferowhite

Jennifer White pursues God in prayer with the Bible as her guide.  She leads others to do the same at Prayerfully Speaking.  Wife to David is her highest calling.  She recently completed her first book, Prayers for new Brides:  Putting on the Armor After the Wedding Dress.  #LIVEWONDERSTRUCK with her that God is and does "more than we can ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20). #GodAnswers 

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