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“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed,

for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

Because we are human, we have times where fear overtakes us. Our hearts become heavy and our minds focus on the sadness of our lives. We immediately focus on the darker part of issues that affect our lives. Or we lose interest in the things that go on around us. Each day seems to stretch ahead of us or time gets away from us. When anxiety takes over our lives, we need a reminder that we have a friend who loves us. His name is God.

In the selected passage from Isaiah, The Lord tells us not to fear for several reasons:

· He is with us. He walks right beside us when we have trials or find ourselves in a dark valley. Have you ever felt the presence of the Holy Spirit? Have you ever felt the prayers of others? At the time of my stepmother’s demise, I felt the prayers that were being said for my family. When our son had neurosurgery as a preschooler, I had only one short time of shedding tears. Because God’s people were praying for him. I have been praying for two families at church who have special needs. One recent Sunday, I told one of the mothers I was still praying. Her response was, “Yes, I can feel them.”

● He is our God. God tells us that we can claim a certain amount of ownership of Him He is there for us. He doesn’t stand off and watch us when get into the miry pits of life; He pulls us out. My Sunday school teacher and his wife have four grandchildren, two grandsons and two granddaughters. The two girls, cousins, are just under three years apart in age. When they both were preschoolers, they were with Grandpa and Grandma one evening. The two girls got to telling each other that this older man was ‘my’ grandpa. Each girl was right; he was her grandpa and he was the other girl’s, as well. God belongs to every believer. We can all say, “He’s my God.”

· God will make us strong and help us, whatever we go through. He will allow us to grow from our experiences. He instructs and guides us in the way we should go. For each circumstance we go through God has a lesson He wants us to learn. One way He makes us strong is when we pray and read our Bibles.

In prayer, we present our needs and the needs of others to Him. In reading His Word we receive the answers from Him.

· He will stand beside us in our times of need and support us according to what we require at that time. God sheds His grace on us in accordance to our need. One of His names of that I really like is Yahweh Shammah, The Lord Is There.

I discovered this verse as I struggled with a protracted period of having things get the better of me. I had earlier shared my thoughts with a friend but I didn’t feel I could tell her I hadn’t received very much help I felt I needed from those around me. I kept my thoughts and feelings inside. When I read this verse, I felt lifted up from my lengthy state of depression. As I reflect on that time, I realize I was in a ‘time out’ so I could learn more of God and what He expects of me.

Whenever I send a note of cheer to a friend, I try to include some scripture references. I remember to include this one. I even adopted it as my verse for the year of 2010, the year I found it.

"'Winging It" from Stan Smith

Inspired