By: Carole L. Haines
From my distress I called upon the Lord; The Lord answered me and set me in a large place. The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me? (Psalm 118:5-6)
My life experience has taught me that God doesn’t always deliver us from our fears, He sometimes delivers us through them. I’d even venture to say that judging from my Journey with Him, He often delivers us through them. He enables us to walk through those fires or climb those daunting mountains.
When I was feeling my most isolated and confined, we had moved to a new State and with my Social Anxiety Disorder, I ended up isolating. I was too afraid to reach out to others around me. It was only the very few who reached within my circle of fear that were able to draw me out.
I have often sensed that others think I am a snob, weird and high maintenance. Well, I am not a snob; but I am definitely weird. With my fear of people, I can see how I could be perceived as “High Maintenance.” But God gave me some verses early on in this journey that I hold on to tightly as I traverse this path. We will look at one today.
For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)
I know full well that I am neither wise nor noble. But I do consider myself a bit foolish, and most definitely weak. Let’s look up in the Greek what “base” means, I honestly don’t know. The Study tool I use for the Greek is Blue Letter Bible. So here it is: Base- “ignoble, of unknown descent, without kin. It can also mean cowardly or mean.” Not very flattering. But let’s look at this through the lens of our inheritance in Scripture.
But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)
God’s choosing of you and I, for appointed tasks, will not prove vain either. As we yield to who God made us to be, and as we discover His purposes and yield to them; God will bring Great glory to Himself through our lives. Trust is a precious commodity, and we must trust God and cease to trust ourselves and our own perception of things.
We live in a culture that worships Opinion. But God does not have opinions, God is truth. We must learn to lay aside our perceptions and opinions and seek God’s truth, no matter what. Why? Because as Believers, we live from the premise that God is always right. And so He is right in how He made us, what He allows in our lives. Let me leave you with this exhortation for the Scriptures.
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
God has called you to a purpose in faithfulness, and He will surely bring it to completion. Yield to the Inner Work He is calling you too. He can be trusted to move us from fear to love. See you tomorrow
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