If You're Waiting for Deliverance...

When did fear become my graven image?

How is it that something so suffocating and restricting could become an idol to consume my mind?

When my mind stayed fixed upon it so much that all other thoughts soon became shoved out.

Fear became my obsession.

Fear ruled and dictated my life.

Fear made my decisions for me.

Fear became my god when I let those fears become bigger than God in my mind.

Fear made me question whether life was really worth living.

Praise the Lord for deliverance, even when the rescue trickles in drip by drip, slow like molasses.

But He provides just enough grace for each moment.

And then my God experience becomes real.

And I know that I can trust Him fully.

And I know that He loves me fully.

And I know that His perfect love has the power to cast out all my fears.

And I know that He will gently remind me of these things when my finite mind forgets them.

And so do not lose hope. As the days tick by, and you're sitting there waiting for your deliverance, do not let discouragement take root in your soul, dear one.

Because He works in ways that we cannot see.

And He is delivering you.

Rarely do things worth learning come quick and easy.

And He knows this.

He wants us to make it real. To make it our own. To let it settle down deep into all the crevices of our heart, soul, and mind. To own it.

And then it can plant itself; grow its roots down deep and blossom there.

And then, when we come face-to-face with Him, when we really see Him, we will realize how much He really loves us.

We will realize that He never leaves us. Even when He is quiet, He is still working His mighty ways in our lives.

Seek Him, dear sister. With all your heart, seek Your Savior. And He will prove faithful.

And you will know how much you are loved by Him.

The readiest way to escape from our sufferings is to be willing they should endure as long as God pleases. ~ John Wesley