Another Hot Summer Guest Post | Bridget A. Thomas

I know, I know. Four posts in 24 hours. C-R-A-Z-Y. Blame it on the heat.

In the midst of this brutally hot summer, I invited several of my fellow bloggers to write a guest post.

We kicked things off last Monday by sharing David Duncan’s post Divine Motivation.

A Set Up

Have you ever felt like God set you up? I don’t mean this in a good way. I mean a set up for failure. That’s how I felt recently.

During the springtime I was dealing with anxiety. I was worried and fearful about the future. I didn’t like this feeling and I wanted it to go away. I prayed about it and sought help from the Lord.

One day, in my daily Bible reading I came to some verses that were familiar: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” – Isaiah 43:18-19

Although I had heard these verses many times before, in light of my anxiety they now spoke to me in a new way. I grabbed hold of these verses and the promise they brought. I knew if anyone could help me overcome this anxiety, God could.

I also turned my focus to trusting God and igniting my faith. The things I worried about were not unwarranted. But I knew I needed to trust God with the future. With our human eyes, we see things from a limited perspective. But God can see the beginning and the end.

I felt like I was getting onto a better path. When I was tempted to worry, I shifted my attention to trusting God. Instead of allowing fear to take over, I held on to faith.

Suddenly, though, I got some devastating news. Someone in my family received a cancer diagnosis. Now I felt like everything was crashing down on me. And when looking back over the ways I was trying to hold onto God, I felt like He set me up. For failure. I had thought I was on a good path. But now all my faith seemed to fizzle. Why would God allow this? My worries seemed to go through the roof.

As I wrestled with these thoughts, I knew God wouldn’t set me up for failure. We have trust what we know of God’s character. His character is love, faithfulness, and compassion. He is not a God of confusion, worry, and discouragement.

So yes, maybe God was setting me up. But in a good way. Perhaps God was giving me the tools I would need to face this circumstance ahead of time. Before we march to a battle, we have to put on our armor. God knew what was coming, and He was helping me suit up.

Wow! When I looked at it from that perspective, I was amazed by the goodness of God!

My family and I are facing many difficulties right now. But that doesn’t change who God is. He is constant. His love is unfailing. And He is with us through life’s battles.

In the words of Dr. Charles Stanley, “The Father will never abandon or reject you. And if you follow Jesus in faith, certainly you will overcome every obstacle He allows you to experience. You’ll discover, as I have, that He is good, kind, wise, that He cares deeply for you.”

Friend, whatever you are facing in your life, remember that God is for you. He is on your side. He is fighting your battles. The enemy will try to discourage us. But we have a choice to make. We can choose to focus on God and His goodness. We can choose to remember truth. God has you in the palm of His hand.

---

I want to thank Bridget for sharing her thoughts on my blog today. Like all things, blogging thrives in community.

Know you are loved.

Please pray for our nation. America needs it more than ever today.

Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™