My friends, we all face trying times. No one can predict the moment when everything in our lives could completely change.
In times of trial, we can take comfort. In times of unrest and insecurity, we can have peace.
From Old Testament to New, we experience a God who loves and keeps His people. We see a loving, sovereign Father. When difficult times come, God is not surprised. From the beginning of time, He’s known each day what will unfold, and He knows each tiny incident in our lives. We can have peace knowing that we serve a God who is in control, even in scary times. He is here, He is present, and we can rest in Him even in our uncertainty.
We Have a Savior Who Understands Us
Jesus Himself suffered. He felt the pain of grief, sickness, and death, and He wept in sorrow. Child of God, He sees your loss, He hears your cry, He feels your hurt. Jesus, our high priest, understands. We have a Savior who can sympathize with our weakness, and if we draw near to Him we can receive mercy and find grace to help in times of need (Hebrew 4:14-16).
God knew that we would experience fear, but feeling afraid is not where we need to be stuck. He has provided the path of hope and light for us, and we can be the hope and light for one another.
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God Does Not Want Us to Live in Fear or Anxiety
1. Isaiah 41:10 - Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
2. Joshua 1:9 - Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
3. Psalm 34:4 - I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
4. Isaiah 12:2 - Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.
5. John 14:1 - Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
6. John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
7. Peter 5:7 - Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
8. Philippians 4:6-7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
9. Matthew 6:25 - Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
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God Is Our Healer
10. Psalm 103:2-3 - Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases.
11. 3 John 2 - Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
12. Isaiah 53:5 - But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
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We Can Be Assured of His love
13. Lamentations 3:22-23 - The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
14. John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
15. Romans 5:8 - But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
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We Have Hope for the Future
16. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 - For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
17. Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
18. 2 Chronicles 20:9 - If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.
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He Is with Us
19. Zephaniah 3:17 - The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
20. Romans 8:37-39 - No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
21. Psalm 4:8 - In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
22. Psalm 62:6-7 - He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
23. Psalm 23:4 - Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Evil Will Not Prosper
24. Isaiah 54:17 - No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.
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He Comforts Us So That We Can Comfort Others
25. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
The Suffering of This World Is Not Permanent
This world is not our home; we are strangers in a foreign land. We can have hope for our future, not just in this present life, but for all eternity. Sickness and death entered this world because of sin. But praise God, our hope and trust are based on more than just security in this present-day life! We can rest in the peace that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
Carry your burdens to Him, and lay them down. Release them, over and over again. Come to his feet daily, and ask for His help. Ask for strength to get through the day. He will supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory. We cannot even fathom His riches (Philippians 4:19).
Even in voluntary isolation, we can glorify God. We may be separated physically, but we are gathered together spiritually in Jesus’ name. Friends, God has no dark side. There is no shadow of turning with Him (James 1:17). He works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Not everything IS good, but He makes it good in the end, for His glory.
Hollie Gilman blogs about Faith and Family at HollieGilman.com. She has spent the last 21 years momming, homeschooling her 3 almost-grown-and-flown children, and working with her husband of 24 years. Now she enjoys writing and her new life in the country (being a pretend farmer) just outside her hometown of Richmond, VA.
Originally published Wednesday, 08 April 2020.