My friend Jackie has tried to get pregnant for five years. The ache in her soul has been nearly unbearable. I was with her not long ago, and her despair had grown so intense that she was losing all hope in life, in God, in His “good and perfect gift[s]” (James 1:17).
She looked at me as if to say, “What if He passes over me? What if my dreams don’t come true?”
As we talked, with a whole herd of people she loved surrounding her, woman after woman loaned Jackie her faith. They weren’t believing God on Jackie’s behalf for a child to show up in her womb; they were believing God on Jackie’s behalf, regardless of what may come.
She left our time together glowing and hopeful, eyes set on trying some new challenges and embracing a world that may not contain a child in her womb. Because God is good and perfect, even when life is not—and she is choosing to believe He is in control.
There are no promises that our worst fears won’t come true. Sometimes they do, but even then God remains our unfailing hope.
Cancer can come against us, but by God’s power, it will not win, at least not in the end.
A spouse may be unfaithful, yet by God’s power, infidelity won’t define our lives.
Financial crisis can come against us, yet by God’s power, we can move forward.
Disillusionment and doubt can come against us, yet by God’s power, they won’t have the last word.
My sister-in-law, Ashley, reads Corrie ten Boom’s book The Hiding Place every year. She says it reminds her that, no matter what the coming months hold for her and her family, God is enough.
Recently, as I confided in her some of my fears about one of my kids, she reminded me of this story Corrie told in the book:
Father sat down on the edge of the narrow bed. “Corrie,” he began gently, “when you and I go to Amsterdam—when do I give you your ticket?”
I sniffed a few times, considering this.
“Why, just before we get on the train.”
“Exactly. And our wise Father in heaven knows when we’re going to need things, too. Don’t run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need—just in time.”
We always have exactly what we need, when need it. Do we believe that?
If we believe we have a choice to trust instead of fear, then how will choosing to trust cause us to live?
We will live in what is true of us, which is that we have the mind of Christ.
Paul declared this to be true in Philippians 2:5: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus”!
So what do we do when we start to spin?
We do the work.
We risk telling someone, even if what we’re worrying about sounds silly.
We actively choose to close the curtain on fearful, untrue thoughts.
We remind ourselves who God is, and we cast our anxieties on Him (1 Peter 5:7). You may have to do this a hundred times a day.
And we claim the peace of God as our promise.
Jennie Allen appears this Monday on LIFE TODAY. This is an excerpt from Get Out Of Your Head by Jennie Allen. Copyright ©2020 by Jennie Allen. Published by Waterbrook, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Used by permission.
