Fears and Blessings

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27 KJV

This is one of my favorite scriptures. I am constantly reminded of God’s word and His beautiful promises of comfort. I am learning life is an array of changes. We never know what’s around the next corner. Sometimes we are unaware of the challenges awaiting us. They can seem so big and significant compared to us. They can burden us down and trouble our hearts. But there’s always a positive side. When we take them to the Lord and lay them at His feet, they’re no problem at all.

This past weekend, God set me up some stones. He took me to places I had never been before and truly never dreamed I could go. And through it all, He held me so secure in His arms and showed me another depth and degree of His amazing love.  

When God moves it doesn’t matter the size of the storm or the difficulty of the challenge. He can take the smallest vessel He has and make it great. He can calm the storm and make us look good to others.

He blessed me to travel to West Virginia for a few days. In case you have forgotten or not read any of my previous posts, I have travel phobia or something which terrifies me to travel. It takes lots of prayers and faith for me to get into a car and go any distance. It’s an irrational and unexplainable fear that comes over me. I don’t understand it, but I know God has the power to help me overcome it. And that’s exactly what happened. He calmed my fears and spoke peace to my soul. He blessed me to not only travel, but to travel without fear. He gave me a little glimpse of the angels all around me.

The first item on my agenda for the weekend was a book signing at Coffee, Beans and Books. http://coffeebeansandbooks.com/ It was wonderful. If I lived in West Virginia, Melanie and I would be best friends. The coffee was amazing and the atmosphere was so relaxing. I sipped my coffee and wanted so badly to write.

The next item on the agenda was speaking at a Women’s Conference. Yeah, I was a guest speaker. Did I mention I have a great fear of public speaking and lots of eyes on me at one time make me extremely nervous? Well, it does. I wanted to decline the offer. Then I wanted to cancel. My heart was troubled and I was so afraid. I couldn’t sleep or eat and I was seriously stressed out.

Then the thought came to me: What if I could say something to help someone else? Why wouldn’t I do it? There is a desire inside my heart to tell anyone who will listen about my wonderful God. This would be like multi-tasking. I could tell several people at one time. So I took a leap of faith (because of all the prayers prayed for me)—realizing and knowing God had it all under control.

Let me just say, He blessed me! He calmed the storm raging inside me and blessed me to tell how wonderful He is to me. And He showed me that nothing is impossible through and by Him.

The next day, my publisher hosted a luncheon for their authors. I had the privilege of meeting other authors and learning from them. I received lots of wonderful information and new ideas. The camaraderie was so wonderful—it felt like a family gathering. While I was there, I learned my book Underneath the Scars received a 5-star review. http://readersfavorite.com/review/5854

And I learned we can allow our fears to hold us back and dictate out life. However, if we look to God, we can overcome them all through Him. We all need to strive to be the person God wants us to be regardless of the challenges. Some people will love us, while others may hate us, but what truly matters is what God thinks of us. I want my Lord to be satisfied with me. I want Him to be able to use me for His honor and His glory. He’s the One deserving of all the praise.

It’s a fearful thing to stand before God and His wonderful people. However, we never stand alone. God doesn’t give us things to do for Him and then leave us alone to do them. I have learned all He expects from me is my obedience and the faith that He can and will take care of me. He knows how small I am and that I can’t do anything without Him. He also knows that if I take one tiny step in faith, He will pick me up and carry me the rest of the way.

And when He moves the fear is gone and only beautiful blessings remain.