Showing items filed under “Hope”

April 21, 2023

in Hope

Fear is safety!

Psalms 29:10-11 - The Lord sits enthroned over the floodwaters. The Lord sits enthroned – King forever! Let the Lord give strength to his people! Let the Lord bless his people with peace!

I think we sometimes forget fear is a gift from God. Fear is safety. Fear is what tells us not to walk down a dark alley at night. Fear is why we instruct our children not to play in traffic. Fear is a gift to help us and those around us to survive and thrive. But like any of God’s gifts, when it is used outside of God’s design and purpose, they quickly become destructive.

Take water for example. It is vital that we have water daily. From hydrating ourselves to watering our plants, to cleaning; water is a precious gift, one we can’t live without!

But, perhaps like me, you have returned home from an evening out during Christmas to discover your dishwasher has leaked all over your kitchen hardwood floors!

That essential water, needed inside the dishwasher in order to clean and sanitize my dishes, became frustratingly destructive the moment it went outside of its purpose. The longer the water leaked onto my floor, the more it spread, and the more damaging it became as it warped my floors and insidiously seeped into other areas of the sacred space that is my home.

Fear can do the same for us women. We must ask ourselves, how long do I let fear stay in my life? How far will I allow it to spread and derail God’s perfect plan for me?

I have experienced fear and its deep hold on me almost my entire life. Early memories included being terrified of the dark, and of the speed with which some adults in my life would emotionally detonate. As I grew older, fear continued its grip but presented as anxiety and insecurity. I battled with dark thoughts; not being wanted, never being good or smart enough, and no matter how hard I tried, my best efforts fell short. I believed every part of me was wrong. Adults, peers, and later my spouse drove these messages home again. Once that ‘truth’ seeped into my soul like the water from the dishwasher invaded my kitchen floor, I accepted that I was a disappointment to many. I incorrectly believed that was God’s view of me. I lived in a crippling cycle of “what if”, “I can’t”, and “they might”, drowning in fear, it warped everything from my thinking to my actions.

The day God began the process of breaking the chains of my fear was perhaps one of my worst days. After suspecting a problem for months, it was confirmed. My marriage covenant had been irrevocably destroyed by two people in my inner sanctum, and the enemy had me right where he wanted me. This child of the king believed she was so warped, so wrong, so worthless, she was ready to be crushed and thrown out. But God had other plans. As the floodwaters of my reality rushed in to consume me, I had just enough left in me to cry out to my Father in heaven. And he was there.

He was with me in my sorrow and offering comfort through His word and the Godly people He put in my life. As I fought to save my marriage, God was building my strength and integrity. When my husband filed for divorce and tried to move 300 miles away with our children, God breathed life into me and gave me peace that can only come from him.

During the two and half years it took to process my divorce God did a massive overhaul on me. Bit by bit, every lie, every accusation, and all the fear I had embraced my entire life, was removed and replaced with His truth. God wants to trade my fears and insecurities, for His truth, love, and peace. It wasn’t easy but because of what God has done for me, and revealed to me, I count it all joy!

Now when I start to feel fear seep outside of its purpose it signals to me there’s something I need to bring to the Father in prayer. If you’ve been dealing with fear and anxiety for a lifetime or a season would you come join me and hear how God broke the chains of fear in the lives of other ladies for “Fear Has No Hold On Me” on April 28^th?

Don’t let fear creep outside its proper place in your life, God is ready to help you break free!

Meghan Burton - Social Media Coordinator 

 

Interested in blogging for the Women's Ministry? Email     for details.

Connect with the Women's Ministry via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bhbcsistersoftheheart

Posted by Meghan Burton with

December 9, 2021

in Hope

God’s Gift of Hope

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

In the midst of the ups and downs of life, it can sometimes be hard to remember that God does have plans for our lives. It can be easy to focus more on our own hopes, forgetting to trust God’s provision for us. We have ideas of what we want our days to look like. When things go well, we may have a tendency to think that it's because we've done the right things. And, while it is true that good decisions can lead to good results, I firmly believe that anything good in my life is wholly due to God's grace and unmerited favor! He gives us good things because He loves us, not because we deserve any of them.

And then there are the "downs" of life. Some of the things that happen may seem so shocking and so sad that it's hard to imagine them being a part of God's plan for our lives. 2020 surprised and disappointed us like no other year. For many, that holiday season looked a lot different from what we had hoped for. We were not able to enjoy some of our favorite holiday traditions. We missed out on time with our loved ones. It may not have “felt” like Christmas, so we trusted God to provide. Now a year later as we approach Christmas 2021, we still need to trust God’s plans for us, and to remember that great Plan and Hope our Father sent for us on that first Christmas so long ago.

So many times in my life, I've come through heartbreaking experiences and seen how God blesses through them, because of them, and in spite of them. It doesn't surprise me when He does that. In fact, I've learned to live in expectation of it. That hope often gets me through such bad times. I know God will work all things for good. He will give beauty for ashes.

Having been raised in the church, I've known of God's love since I was a little girl. However, I began to understand it on a new level when I became a mother. I remember looking at my newborn child and realizing that there would never be anything she could do that would cause me to stop loving her. It was then that I began to see how God could love me like that. As His child, He loves me so much and will never stop, no matter how many times I fail.

Remember when I said that God brings good things from bad and gives beauty for ashes? Becoming a mother was an example of this for me. For many years, I didn't plan to have children. I knew that there was no such thing as a perfect parent, and if I couldn't do it perfectly, then why do it at all? This warped thinking stemmed from the perfectionism I've wrestled with for most of my life. In 1995, however, I had an ectopic pregnancy. I wasn't familiar with the condition, and the more I learned about it after I was treated for it, the more I realized that I could have died as a result of it. And probably should have, medically speaking. But God had other plans.

One year later, I gave birth to a precious girl who, to this day, is a blessing to so many people. If I had not gone through the difficulty and heartbreak of the ectopic pregnancy, I might have let Satan keep that hold of perfectionism over me, and the world would have been robbed of the blessings of both of my children. Have I been a perfect parent? Not even close. But I have tried to follow God's example and love unconditionally. I am immensely proud of my daughters, but I can't really brag, because I know that the good in them is 100% due to God's grace and provision. To Him be the glory!

In the good times and bad, it is crucial to hold on to God's perfect peace that passes all understanding. The key to this is to praise Him. Always. Forever. In ALL things. When I was in college, I was in a singing group. Recently, one of the songs we performed that I haven't heard or even thought of in many years came back to me in a dream. I was surprised at how many of the words I remembered. The song is called "Praise the Lord" and was recorded by the Imperials back in 1979. I hope these words are an encouragement to you, as they are to me!

When you're up against a struggle that shatters all your dreams
And your hopes have been cruelly crushed by Satan's manifested schemes
And you feel the urge within you to submit to earthly fears
Don't let the faith you're standing in seem to disappear

Praise the Lord, He can work through those who praise Him
Praise the Lord, for our God inhabits praise
Praise the Lord, for the chains that seem to bind you
Serve only to remind you that they drop powerless behind you
When you praise Him

Now Satan is a liar and he wants to make us think
That we are paupers when he knows himself we're children of the King
So lift up the mighty shield of faith for the battle must be won
We know that Jesus Christ has risen so the work's already done

Praise the Lord, He can work through those who praise Him
Praise the Lord, for our God inhabits praise
Praise the Lord, for the chains that seem to bind you
Serve only to remind you that they drop powerless behind you
When you praise Him

Susan Foster

Interested in blogging for the Women's Ministry? Email    for details.

Connect with the Women's Ministry via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bhbcsistersoftheheart

Posted by Susan Foster with

Previous1234Next