Scriptures of Encouragement ~ God Spoke It & I Lived It

The doctor stared at me intently. I teasingly said, "Stop that! You're intimidating me."  To which she replied, "I'm concerned, Nan. Something is wrong and we've got to find out what is going on."

My world stood still. Images of chemo and radiation, bed rest, death - yep - they all fought for center attention in my mind's eye. WHY do we do that? I am a strong woman of faith and yet I crumpled under the weight of fear.

The nurse came in with her barrage of equipment. She inserted the needle and I watched the red flow of life ooze out of my body into three vials.  As she left, I knew that in her hands were the answers to my future.

Sickness or health.

Life or death.

I looked into my precious husband's eyes and I knew that he, too, was afraid.

For the next three days we prayed. Our friends prayed. Our family prayed. I ran to my Jesus, crying out for peace in the midst of my battle of fear. I clung to Him like my daughter clung to me when she was a toddler and she felt afraid.

And then the Lord spoke to me through His Word and calmed my spirit.

"For thus says the Lord, [the One] who created the heavens, [the One] who is God, [the One] who formed the earth and made it, [the One] who has established it, [the One] who did not create it in vain, [the One] who formed it to be inhabited: 'I AM the Lord and there is no other.'" ~ Isaiah 45:18

"I AM the Lord and there is no other..."

When God speaks, I listen.

 As I pondered this Scripture, a cross-reference took me to Genesis 1:2 - "The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."  I learned that the Hebrew word for void is the same word Isaiah used in reference to God's creation not being made in vain. The Hebrew word is tohu (toh-hoo) which means - are you ready? - it means "a formless, chaotic mess, emptiness and desolation; describes a scene of disorder and confusion."

Well...I can relate to that. Those three days of waiting felt like a whole lot of tohu! I was swirling around in a chaotic mess of desolation, disorder and confusion and the label on the container read FEAR!

Look back at Genesis One with me. After the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters that held no form and was a "chaotic mess", what happened next? Verse three begins, "Then God said, 'Let...'"

LET there be light. (vs. 3)

LET there be a firmament between the waters. (vs. 6)

LET the dry land appear. (vs. 9)

LET there be grass, herbs and fruit trees. (vs. 11)

LET there be a sun, moon and stars. (vs. 14)

LET there be sea animals and birds of the air. (vs. 20)

LET there be be beasts of the earth. (vs. 25)

LET there be man in His own image. (vs. 27)

LET there be peace in Nan's heart.

LET My perfect love casts away all of her fear.

LET Nan feel my protection and provision all about her.

LET her hide beneath the shadow of My wing.

God spoke it and I lived it.

He gave me the peace that passes all understanding. He let me hide beneath the shadow of His wing until the calamity passed me by. He calmed my racing heart.

About 2:00 in the afternoon, the phone rang. The lab results were back. All of the results appeared normal. Apparently, my fibromyalgia has been flaring off the charts because of stress and I have been having a long-term adverse reaction to one of my medicines. My meds have been changed so that I should begin breathing easier, the coughing should subside and I should be able to swallow without choking.

God has a way of bringing order out of chaos. He is no respecter of persons. The peace of His Presence that He gave me, He will also give to you.



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Are you living in a whirlwind  - a chaotic mess - too? If you need personal prayer, please feel free to contact me at nan@jubilantlight.com. I would be honored to lift your name before the Father.
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I am currently booking speaking events for fall and Christmas. Visit my website at www.jubilantlight.com for more information. I would love to spend time with you and your ladies.

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