"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you.
I've called your name. You're mine.
When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you.
When you're in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you're between a rock and a hard place,
it won't be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That's how much you mean to me!
That's how much I love you!
I'd sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade the creation just for you."
=Isaiah 42:1-4=
When I think about being between a rock & a hard place, I think of no other verse than the one I listed above. Isaiah 42:1-4 says everything I'm about to say in a nutshell. When we're in over our head, He is right there with us. Right HERE with us. In this very moment. When we're in rough waters, we will not go down.... "There's a raging sea right in front of me wants to pull me in, bring me to my knees, so let the waters rise if You want them to; I will follow You, I will follow You." And my favorite: When we're in between a rock & a hard place, it will NOT be a dead end--- So many times in life we face trials & tribulations. We lost patience & become irritable with God's "perfect timing." We begin to doubt our faith, trust & out hope in God because we don't understand why things are happening? My friend & I have a saying, "When it rains, it pours." Ain't that the truth, ya'll!? I know in my life, that quote speaks louder than anything at times! And it gets so frustrating! As you guys know in my last post, two of my friends were in a terrible car accident on Christmas Eve. Travis went to be with the Lord today(rejoicing in that) but it's still really difficult when a young person, 17, is killed in a tragic accident. Especially one you know. On top of that, the devil decided to crush me with his ever famous "singleness" shpill in my life. At first it worked & I started looking at girls who seemed to have everything, I mean EVERYTHING going for them. Beauty, Personality, Boyfriends, ya know... the whole sha-bang! But then in my spirits I sweetly heard..."When you're between a rock & a hard place, it won't be a dead end." And I immediately felt God telling me to open my bible to this verse & just meditate in His presence for a bit. So that's exactly what I did & it is exactly what I needed to heart gain the courage to tell the devil to flee from my mind & my thoughts right then! He no longer had control over them! and guess what? He fleed. Why? Because he is scared to death of Jesus. The bible says that one shout of "JESUS!" makes him shiver & run away. What a BABY! :) When I flipped open to this passage the first two lines took my breath away... "Don't be afraid, I have redeemed you! I've called your name... YOU ARE MINE!" Wow. If that's not beautiful, I honestly don't know what is. Ya see what I realized I had that most of these girls did not was the wisdom God! And not only that but a HEART FOR GOD! I don't know if you can tell but I have a deep, burning passion for my Lord. My purpose while I'm here on this earth is to shine brighter than any star in the sky for my Jesus & I continue to due that more and more each day. Though I may not have some of the things these girls had, I really had SO MUCH MORE! A pure & whole relationship with God is worth more than anything else in this world. Even a stupid boyfriend. I am falling in love with Jesus Christ & that is the greatest love story that will ever be told. When life throws you curve balls, let God bat. It might sound cheesy but it will make your life twenty times easier. Another verse that continues to ring in my mind when I am facing turmoil is this: "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule." Mattew 5:2
My prayer for all of you is that as you face turmoil this week, or maybe you get stuck between a rock & a hard place....you will ask God to place these verses upon your heart. You will cry out to & ask Him to give you MORE OF HIM & less of you! Because the more of ourselves we rid away, the more room there is for Jesus to move into our hearts.
With love,
Tay :)
Think about it this way-
ReplyDeleteDeuteronomy 32:4, "He is the ROCK. His work is perfect. For all His ways are justice, a God of truth without injustice; righteous and upright is He."
1 Samuel 2:2, "No one is holy like the Lord, for there is none besides You, nor is there any ROCK like our God."
And of course you know there are sooo many more just like that :) (Basically every other verse in both Samuels! hehe) I just thought that was cool. When you're stuck between a rock and a hard place, remember who your rock is! Love you precious. This was so great!