There are moments in our lives that stay with us forever, and then there are some things that slip silently into the night and we completely forget about them. Several years ago I was a stay at home mom enduring another sweltering summer in Georgia. My then three year old daughter was a handful, but add her very busy nine year old brother into the mix and well you can imagine that something was always happening in our home. Let's just say that life is never boring in the Scalise household.
This particular summer was especially unsettling for me. My husband was an Associate Pastor at a church I had grown to love, when our Lead Pastor told us he was gently "pushing us out of the nest". He said that he believed my husband would make a great Lead Pastor. This was something we had not even discussed. We love teenagers, and had determined that our ministry was to be Youth Pastor's until we were well into our Senior Years. Well the whole process of leaving this town and church that I had grown to love and looking for a place to Pastor was making me a nervous wreck.
You see I often suffer from an "anxious" heart! My husband believes it's because I like to be in control of things, but let's not go there right now. I am one of those people who gets excited by the prospect of change, but then reality hits when the boxes begin to come out! I become anxious when I realize that I am leaving a place I've called home for four years, and wonder, just what is going to happen when we get to the new place, and WHERE is it going to be? You can hear my "anxious" heart even in my breathing! Sounds crazy right? Well I have so many questions, so many concerns about our "next" adventure that at times I feel I can't even breathe.
I remember this one particular morning that summer. I had got up before either of the children, a major accomplishment since they both like to watch morning cartoons. I went to grab my Bible and devotion book to read in the living room only to find them gone from their usual place. I marched out into the living room fully intending to harass my husband, who was still home, about taking my things. Instead he simply laid the Bible down he was reading, took me in his arms and gave me a great big "bear" hug. He never said a word. He just held me.
Honestly at that moment I felt like God Himself was holding me close to His heart. He wasn't telling me, "It will be all right Gina.". He wasn't even saying, "This is the path to take, walk in it." No, instead I felt like God was simply giving His anxious child a great big "bear" hug which said, "I'm here! Don't be afraid.".
There are many times in life that we become anxious. Maybe you are anxious because you don't know what the future holds for you. I can't calm your heart with words, but I believe that if you let Him, God can! He wants to give you a great big "bear" hug today! He wants you to release your worry over what the future may hold and He wants to remind you of just WHO it is that holds your future!
I encourage you today, if you are suffering from an anxious heart, get out your Bible and turn to Luke 12:27-30. Then go on to Philippians 4:4-7. Here it says this beginning in verse 6- "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the PEACE of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
My wish for you today is that you will experience God's PEACE!
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