God's Got This!

God’s got this!

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

Principle:  A Prayer Warrior follows the promptings of Holy Spirit

Yesterday as I was leaving the bus station a phrase dropped into my mind. “God’s got this!”.  I wasn’t sure what the “this” referred to in my life.  But the first emotion I felt when thinking about the phrase was an incredible sense of peace and encouragement.  I did a lot of quick thinking (the bible calls this meditating) of the application of this phrase as it might apply to my life.  The overwhelming thought was not to spend so much of my time trying to identify the “this”, but be assured that in every situation “God” is in control.  As I pondered this thought throughout the rest of my day, I also realized that it was a prayer point of encouragement for others. 

As I would think about the needs facing some of my friends and family, I would pray for them to remember that “God’s got this”;  some of my children are making life decisions – “God’s got this!”; some people are facing the consequences of poor financial decisions -“God’s got this!”; some are deeply embroiled in relational conflict-“God’s got this!”;  some are facing life altering health issues –“God’s got this!”; and some are facing the bondage and effects of addictions - “God’s got this!”.

Our verse helps point us in the right direction when we are encountering overwhelming thoughts about life.  We are commanded to not let fear dominate our thinking.  Others may relate this problem as worrying or being anxious.  God does not say that our problem is not a very present and a real situation.  You may very well be sitting in a hospital room right at this moment, or receiving a collection notice, or even another rejection for a job.  These are real and worrisome matters,

BUT God reminds us that He is present.  He has not gone on vacation.  He is not testing you to see how well you do under pressure without Him.  He is with you in the fire and in the rain.  He is “experiencing” your pain with you, for He is there.  He has never left you nor will He abandon you now in your time of great need.

Next, God encourages us to not be dismayed.  Discouragement dominates our thinking and zaps our emotional energy.  Our problems stay with us as we seem to carry the weight on our shoulders.  This discouragement ultimately leads to the dead-end cave of NO HOPE.  Every idea for a new direction that we conjure up in our mind still ends in darkness.  God’s answer- “I am your God!”  He is bigger and outside of our problem.  He knows the path that will lead us to still waters and refreshing pastures. 

It’s like me helping my grandson Stephen putting puzzles pieces back together.  I can easily see where each piece needs to go.  My job is to help guide him to turn the pieces around so they fit.  God is just that much bigger than we are.  Letting Him be God and guiding us, will take us to the next place to be.  We can trust Him, even when things do not turn out the way we thought they should.

God is not only present, he also sends us the ability to move forward when we get stuck.  “I will strengthen you and help you.”  Much of our fear and worry paralyzes us from moving forward.  We are afraid that any decision we make will just make things worse.  But God, who is present, also provides the strength to take the next step.  This requires faith and obedience.  Fear tells you that you cannot move forward until you “know” what it going to happen to you.  Faith strengthens you with each step of obedience. 

Children respond to praise.  When we are encouraging them to take their first steps.  We smile, clap, call their name, and speak enthusiastically to them as we hold out our hands for them to come to us.  We see our children respond to that encouragement and it gives them a boldness to move forward.  So also, God shows up the next step to take and strengthens us to move into the right direction.  We can trust Him, because “God’s got this!”.

“I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”.  God is able to do what He has promised.  He has the power and might to accomplish that which is well pleasing.  He is never just hoping things turn out okay.  He is in charge.  He is aware of our “horrible” situation, but He is stronger than our problem.

This blog is an illustration of letting Holy Spirit lead into scripture prayers for those in need.  We all know of people that need encouragement.  So, we pray that they would experience the God of Isaiah 41:10. We pray that they may know that Jesus is a friend of sinners.  That He promised He would never leave us nor forsake us.  We ask that Holy Spirit would speak to our friend in the night time or through remembering a Bible verse.  We let Holy Spirit guide our prayers as we place ourselves in the need of others.

Father, there is so much that occurs in our life to cause us fear, worry and discouragement.  We do much better talking to others about how big our problem is.  Help us to remember that you are God and our problems are nothing for you to solve.  Thank you that you are present always.  Thank you for your peace that surpasses even our understanding.   Thank you that you can speak words of encouragement into our minds and spirit.  Thank you for your scripture that helps us recalibrate our thinking.  Thank you for Jesus and that He loves us and identifies with us in our messiest moments.  Let us repeat often, “God’s got this!”.  In Jesus name, Amen.