Have I Not Commanded You?

"Have I not commanded you?

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be terrified,

for the Lord your God is with you

wherever you go."

Joshua 1:9

I thought of my brother-in-law today when reading this verse. He is a young 60, always took care of his health, and was good friends with his treadmill! Yet, in December he started to have heart symptoms and by January was scheduled for an angiogram. During this procedure his heart had to be shocked as it "did not like the procedure" nor the stints that had to be placed. It took 2 angiograms to get the stints in place and yet a few short weeks later he was having the same symptoms. Another angiogram revealed scar tissue interfering with one of the stints, and more areas of concern. Long story short, today he is heading to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN for open heart bypass surgery.

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Life changes so quickly.....and we may find ourselves in a situation that has us wondering how in the world we got there! Fear grabs hold of us and we feel swept up in circumstances that feel beyond our control. We do all we can to change our situation, but we are unable to do it alone. The unknown becomes oppressive, and worry brings us to a place of surrender.

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But do we surrender to worry and fear, or to God, or do we trust God to be in the middle of all we are experiencing? Rick Warren says we all surrender to something ~~ to worry, fear, lust, temptation....so wouldn't it be better for us to surrender to God? Makes sense to me! How do we do this? Through practice..one day, one hour, one situation at a time.

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My sister and BIL have a deep faith that will sustain them through this surgery and recovery. Their family will be with them, and a community of believers will be praying for them. And when fear of the unknown or what ifs starts to creep in, we need only remember that God is with them. We need only remember that God is with us all. We can trust Him no matter what comes ~ God does not break His promises!