Have you ever been through one of those seasons where everything just feels hard? Those seasons of pressing, of crushing, where everything feels outside of your comfort zone and outside of your control? You may just become numb or want to run away. It can feel incredibly lonely and incredibly confusing. Yet those seasons aren’t marked by God’s absence or lack of concern. It’s quite the opposite actually- they are especially marked by His faithful and steadfast character. If we let Him, He uses those times to draw us in, to refine and to mold us.

He is a Good Shepherd who takes care of everything and what we need to learn is how to be a good sheep. We need to learn how to trust, how to rest, how to receive His loving care and affection, rather than relying on ourselves or our own control. He wants to meet our every need, yet sometimes we kick and flail and make wild efforts to get in the way of that. Don’t run along to other pastures on your own accord, assuming you know best. Taking charge, striving to control the outcome, and working to create something for yourself has a way of backfiring, trust me. Well, trust God on this one. I’m learning how to be that little sheep, who can lie down and rest, even in the face of uncertainty. While I can’t see what is next, I can see the one who sees it all. I’m learning to look to Him. I’m learning how to wait and trust as He goes ahead and prepares a place of abundance for me. He truly is the Good Shepherd, and He is worthy of all our trust and confidence. He has never failed, and He won’t start now.

Dear little sheep, rest, be still. For the Greatest Shepherd who laid down His life for you, is taking care of it all.

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”

— John 10:27

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The Good Shepherd

Fear, for each of us, it has a different face, a different name. It is a darkness, that creeps up on us. It ties us up with ropes and before we know it, it starts to dictate our decisions. It laughs in the face of our dreams. It dims the light of our future.

Fear is real and how much power it has in our lives is determined by how much power we give it. We are not meant to live captive to this fear and there is hope. You see, we have already been set free. We are adopted as sons & daughters, washed & purified by the blood of Jesus. We have an authority over fear and a God who moves beyond it. God intended us to live fully in freedom, but if we are not careful- captives are exactly what we become. We simply cannot afford to allow fear to cripple us, to keep us sitting, to keep us stationary, to keep us out of the game. All God is wanting is for us to run to Him & fear hinders that.

IN ORDER TO OVERCOME FEAR: WE MUST RISK.

Lately more & more, I feel God beckoning me: to stand in the face of my fears, to face them head on, to run towards Him with all I have and all I am, risking it all and holding nothing back. When we face our fears there will be uncertainty, but I can promise you, you can be certain about this one thing: God is faithful.

FAITHFUL:

LOYAL, CONSTANT, STEADFAST.

That is who God is. God's perspective is bigger than ours. He sees you, He knows your heart. Outside of time & unhindered by circumstances-He works for your good. To have fear in itself is not wrong, but letting it constrain you, letting it chain & contain you-that is wrong. In the end it is really not about the fear itself-it is about who you are facing the fear with.

Are you willing to face fear and risk for more or are you content with staying captive? Dear one, do not fear, for God has overcome the world.

WORDS + PHOTOS by Tiffany Lambert.

Tiffany is full time staff with YWAM San Diego/Baja and leads the Photo-Storytelling DTS.