How to live fearless in a terrifying world

For an audio recording of today’s post, click here.

It’s been almost a year since our family moved across the country from North Carolina to Nebraska. I’m amazed how fast a year can move.

This very weekend a year ago I was preparing to speak at a women’s retreat. This very weekend a year ago we had just returned from a whirlwind trip to find a house in Nebraska, our house received multiple offers within 48 hours of listing. Much of looking back over the span of those days seems like a blur.

The stress of preparing to move, preparing to speak, homeschooling my kids, leading women’s ministry. But mostly, in the midst of all of that, we wanted to leave well.

We wanted to leave as well as we’d lived in North Carolina. You can read about that here. I tear up as I read the words I wrote last year. I still deeply miss what we left in North Carolina.

We’ve adjusted in Nebraska. It feels like home. We have friends, church, school community, etc.

We know God brought us to Omaha for a reason. He made that very clear to us when the move began.

Friends encouraged me to write down everything God was doing during those weeks we prepared to leave. He was doing so many enormous things at once that the miracles felt impossible to believe. Except for the fact we were living them and watching God move us with supernatural speed and watching Him intertwine our lives with people for divine purposes.

During that season I lived on a spiritual high. I journaled all the Lord was doing because I knew I never wanted to forget. I needed to remember what God was doing.

What God does flows out of who God is.

I wanted to celebrate God for who He is, not only for what He did. I wanted our kids to see we serve a God we can’t begin to fathom.

My facebook timehop reminds me everyday to remember. I see the pictures of a year ago and it triggers an emotion in my soul.

Sometimes these memories bring sadness as I remember, but mostly they bring to recollection a God who has faithfully walked our family through every season of life and who will never change.

Remember is the word the Lord has kept at the front of my mind since Christmas. Life is too volatile and unpredictable to navigate it without remembering the One who holds us steady. He has shown me how quickly I’m tossed about when I forget to remember.

I hear His whispers reminding me not to forget to look back as I look forward. He has always been behind me, and He will always be before me. When I stop for even a brief moment and remember the truth of who He is as revealed in His Word, I can face forward with no fear.

God’s Word urges us to ‘fear not’, yet fear comes so naturally. When I look back at who God has always been, I’m reminded exactly why fear must get off my path. I have a great big God leading my way, and nothing can stop Him. If I follow Him step by step, I truly have nothing to fear.

If I’m being honest with you, it’s easy to talk about being fearless when we are simply talking about facing a change of location or season of life. But what about when we find ourselves in a living nightmare? What about when our worst fears take shape?

Even in the most gut-wrenching moments of this life, God is still good. He is still here. When evil seems to win, we must remember. We must remember the One who has won and will win. We must remember the cross defeated death. We must remember that He promised us there will come a day when we will see Him in His glory and will live in a world where sadness and death don’t exist.

For this time, evil is present. While evil prowls around our world, it is ever more critical we battle-ready ourselves by one simple shift. Remembering.

Remembering who God is, His character and nature. Remembering what God has promised. Remembering what He has done in the past and what He promises for today and the future.

To live fearless in a terrifying world starts with practicing the art of remembrance.

If you’ve been following along here online, you know I’ve been working on an audio devotional series titled illuminate – Seeing God by the Light of His Word. I’ve promised you I’d share more details as I have them available.

You can find out more about illuminate by clicking here.

And here’s a video too.

Lord, open our eyes to the truth of Your Word. Help us remember who You really are. The world tries to scare us with terrifying news report. And honestly, it is terrifying. We grieve with the families who grieve today, facing nightmares most of us can’t begin to imagine.

For those today facing such sadness and terror, we pray for comfort and peace. We pray for divine appointments. We pray for miracles. We pray for those who don’t know You to receive Your Son. We pray for healing.

We long for the day when You will wipe away every tear. Our hope does not rest in this earthly world. Today, may we choose to remember who You are and what You’ve promised. May we keep our eyes fixed on You so that we can walk fearless in a scary world.

As we walk about our world today, may we have eyes to see the ones who live hopeless and scared. May we boldly share the hope we have everywhere we go.

Amen.