We are living in tumultuous times from several vantage points. But God's people have experienced unrest and troublesome circumstances, even devastating circumstances throughout the centuries. God's Word points us directly to Him when we are in trouble. Again and again, God tells us to lay our worries and fears at His feet and take refuge in Him, because He is sovereign. God shows us what fear and faith look like in His Word. Regardless of our circumstances, God is good and the one who takes refuge in Him, His character, His promises will be blessed.
For my DT submission, I used the fabulous new set, Faith Quote Blocks, the delicious Chunky Alphabet and a couple of stamps from the new Furry Friends set. They all pulled together to accurately express my heart's response to the passage of scripture in Psalm 34 and 35. I'd been looking at these chapters anyway, and when I saw the stamp for Ps. 34:8 and C. H. Spurgeon's quote...well, they were perfect. I love the way the passage describes "trying out" God as "taste and see." If we only come to Him, give Him a place in our minds and hearts to work, He will take all our fear and replace it with assurance, comfort and a place of refuge. We really do not have to worry.
Laying down worry doesn't mean we will not experience hardships or times when ungodly people come against us. As a matter of fact, if we are following Christ, we are certain to make enemies. It's normal to have times of fear, but we can't hang onto them. We have to trade our fear for faith and let God work through our circumstances. He can ALWAYS do a better job anyway. He does a PERFECT job!
As a pastor's wife, I've encountered spiritual warfare up close. We've seen spiritual battles in our own churches, and in those of many pastor-friends. The enemy, through ungodly people, seek to kill, steal and destroy. Sometimes it seems an enemy is under every rock. King David was not being paranoid in Psalm 34 and 35. He had real enemies because there are always enemies of God and His followers. Our response of faith will cancel out the fear and intimidation the enemy wants to use to entangle us.
Regardless of how much our assailants try to slander, mock or deride believers, we can give thanks to our God that He is always with us and for us. The battle is His.
Our God contends for us...He engages the resources of heaven to free us, vindicate us and seal our position in His heavenly courts. Christ arranges all of that on the cross when He paid the debt of our sin. Now His righteousness is our righteousness.
To create the background on the left page, I "scribbled" on gelatos in shades of blue and green then blended with a wet wipe. The cute little worry-mousey is colored with Prismacolor pencils.
Here are the Sweet 'n Sassy stamp sets I used....LOTS of other options here too!
Check out more stamps that are perfect for your Bible journaling artwork in the Creative Worship section of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. Thanks for stopping in!
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