The Lord's Got This!

In 2010, I entered into the most "out of control" situation of my life - the deployment of my then future son-in-law to the front lines of Afghanistan.

It was a similar feeling to when I put my children on the bus to Kindergarten for the first time.  That feeling when your child is no longer under your constant care, and you are entrusting them to the care of the bus driver and ultimately the teachers at school.

Yet it was a completely different feeling because I was seeing my son-in-law off for nine months, with no guarantee he would return alive.  I don't add that for dramatic effect...  Indeed, his battery lost five Marines during that deployment...

And instead of entrusting a child I loved to a bus driver and teachers, I was entrusting my son-in-law to the care of my Heavenly Father.

I find that in the "out of control" times of my life, situations that are just too big for me to handle on my own, the only thing I can do is trust the Lord...  {I realize I should be trusting the Lord in ALL situations, and ultimately I do, but there is that struggle with self where I try to figure things out on my own before I actually pray.  The Holy Spirit is helping me with that though...}

Prior to my son-in-law's deployment, I searched the Scriptures for protection verses and formulated a prayer using them.   I printed the prayer off and laminated it; giving one to my son-in-law to carry in his pocket while deployed, and one for me.  I wanted him to remember every time he felt that laminated card in his pocket that I was praying for him, but most especially that the Lord was his strength.

The verse I found the most comfort in praying over my son-in-law was Isaiah 40:29-31

 He gives strength to the weary

    and increases the power of the weak.

 Even youths grow tired and weary,

    and young men stumble and fall;

 but those who hope in the Lord

    will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

    they will run and not grow weary,

    they will walk and not be faint.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This weekend, my Pastor shed a whole new light on the above passages, an insight that would have taken the out-of-control feeling I described earlier regarding my son-in-law's deployment to one of complete rest and surrender.

Our Pastor is currently working through the book of Matthew.  We are currently in the portion that addresses the end times.  The Pastor was sharing about many of the situations that are going on in the world that certainly can cause Believers, especially, to feel discouraged.

The systematic removal of God from every vestige He once held; the deterioration of traditional marriage; the breaking apart of the family unit; the killing of thousands upon thousand of unborn babies, wars and rumors of wars; calling good bad and bad good; the persecution of Christians; and the martyrdom of more and more Believers.

Yet the Pastor encouraged us that "Things are not falling apart.  They are actually coming together!  Just as God planned..."  

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

Matthew 24:6

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

Like me, I'm sure many of you are very familiar with those words from Isaiah...  

He gives strength to the weary

    and increases the power of the weak...

...but those who hope in the Lord

    will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

    they will run and not grow weary,

    they will walk and not be faint.

quoting and praying them often...

But when the Pastor opened up the verses leading up to those very familiar words in Isaiah, it was then that I realized I was focusing on the strength and power that would be received; not on the Power of the One who was giving it.

Why do you complain, Jacob?

    Why do you say, Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord;

    my cause is disregarded by my God”?

 DO YOU NOT KNOW?

    HAVE YOU NOT HEARD?

  {emphasis mine}

The Lord is the everlasting God,

    the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

    and his understanding no one can fathom.

Isaiah 40:27-28

Our Pastor aptly summarized those verses into a very practical statement about the state of the world today...

THE LORD HAS GOT THIS!!

The Lord is not surprised by the attacks on Christians, marriage, family, the unborn, morality, His very name!

Our Lord and Savior is still on the throne and has never lost control.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DO YOU NOT KNOW?

HAVE YOU NOT HEARD?

THE LORD'S GOT THIS!!!

Your worries, your cares, your anxieties, your bitterness, your depression, your anger, your sicknesses, your trials, your tribulations, your addictions, your fears...

Your husbands, your wives, your children, your grandchildren, your relationships, your jobs, your finances, your homes...

NOTHING about our lives is hidden from the Lord...

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

    you discern my thoughts from afar.

3 You search out my path and my lying down

    and are acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before a word is on my tongue,

    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

5 You hem me in, behind and before,

    and lay your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

    it is high; I cannot attain it.

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?

    Or where shall I flee from your presence?

8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

9 If I take the wings of the morning

    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 even there your hand shall lead me,

    and your right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

    and the light about me be night,”

12 even the darkness is not dark to you;

    the night is bright as the day,

    for darkness is as light with you.

Psalm 139:1-12

And NOTHING touches us without coming through His loving hands...

"When we put ourselves in God's hands, there is space for us to relax knowing that He has everything under His control."

Jarrid Wilson

This quote perfectly describes how I was able to relax as the months of my son-in-law's deployment went on.   Whether my son-in-law lived or died, I knew that the Lord had everything under His control, for His good purposes.

The Lord saw fit to abundantly bless my prayers for my son-in-law with not one, but three miracles where he escaped death in ways that could only be explained supernaturally - through the power of God's perfect will.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you feel yourself becoming weary or discouraged, whether it be about the state of the world or circumstances in your life, remember the Lord's got this!  He is your refuge and fortress, your God in whom you can trust.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,

    my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you

    from the fowler’s snare

    and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,

    and under his wings you will find refuge;

    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,

    nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

    nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

    ten thousand at your right hand,

    but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes

    and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”

    and you make the Most High your dwelling,

10 no harm will overtake you,

    no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you

    to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,

    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;

    I will be with him in trouble,

    I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him

    and show him my salvation.”

You might find me on these link-ups:

Grace & Truth Link-up, Woman to Woman Ministries,  Growing in Grace Link-up, 3DLessonsLif4e, Inspire Me Monday Titus 2 Tuesday, A Wise Women Builds Her Home, A Look at the Book,  Sunday Stillness, The Weekend Brew, Spiritual Sundays, Soul Survival,  Give Me Grace, A Little R&R, Testimony Tuesday, Women with Intention Wednesdays, Still Saturday, Good Morning Mondays, Tell His Story, Faith & Fellowship Blog Hop, Motivate and Rejuvenate Mondays, Be Salty, Monday's Musings, The Art of Home-Making Monday, Tuesday Talk, Waiting on Wednesday, Reflect His Love and Glory  Words of Comfort Link-up, Wholehearted Wednesdays. Tell it to Me Tuesday, Faithful at Home Fridays, Faith 'N Friends, TGI Saturdays, Sitting Among Friends Encourage Me Monday Words with Winter Essential Fridays, So Much at Home Family, Friendship & Faith,  House to Home Intentional Tuesday ,Wonderful Wednesday , Monday of Many Blessings, Literacy Musings Mondays,Imparting Grace, SHINE Blog Hop Dance with Jesus, Give Me Grace, Booknificent Thursdays UNITE Cozy Reading Spot, Making Your Home Sing Monday Social Butterfly Sundays  Let Us Grow Small Wonder Link-up