The Lord recently asked me a piercing question: “Do you really believe I am your Shepherd?”

I knew God knew the answer, but He wanted me to realize that I wasn’t seeing Him as my Shepherd because things were tough.

Maybe you’re in a place where you too, are doubting if God really is leading you. Perhaps you are like me, where fear was attached to a lot of the actions I was taking.

Be encouraged that God is leading you even when you don’t understand why the journey is hard or how exactly you’ll get to your desired destination.

Is God calling you outside of your comfort zone? Maybe it’s a new leadership position or a business God is calling you to pursue. Whatever “uncomfortable thing” God is calling you to, remember that He is with you. 

I find comfort reading Joshua 1:9, where God tells Joshua, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” ‭‭

This same command God gives Joshua is the same command He is giving to us as His followers. Joshua was tasked to lead a whole nation into battles to take on territories. Who wouldn’t be scared of such a task?

The battles you have to face may seem daunting, but remember the God who is with you, fighting your battles. It is God who ultimately will hand us the victories and promised territories we are believing for.

God constantly reminded Joshua that He will give them the promised land they have been believing for. Though we, like Joshua, are called to take action, know that it is ultimately God who will bring us where we need to be.

God says in Joshua 1:5-6, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.”

When things get hard, we can easily forget that God is near and for us. Be encouraged with what God says in Psalm 37:18, “The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care, and their inheritance will endure forever.”

As long as we are living rightly before God, we can be sure that God will always take care of us here on earth and for eternity. This doesn’t mean we will not go through hardships, but that even in the midst of the hardships, He is with us. 

There is never a day when you are not in God’s sight or care. We are promised that even death will not be our end, but we will be raised to life and have a glorious body with Jesus (1 Cor. 15:51-53).

Trust that God will get you through the storm and turn what was meant for your harm for your good and His glory.

When life gets tough, remember you are not alone. The Lord of hosts, who is the King of glory is with you (Psalms‬ ‭24‬:‭10‬).

The battles you face cannot be compared to the Lord who is with you. Do not tolerate fear, but instead walk by faith and seek the Lord’s help and wisdom. Psalm 23:4 says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

Many times we wait for perfect circumstances to enjoy life. No matter what you are facing, choose to trust God, do good, and enjoy where you are at.

God tells us in Psalm 37:3, “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.” ‭‭

Right before verse 3 in Psalm 37 God says, “Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb” (Psalms‬ ‭37‬:‭1‬-‭2‬).

The context of enjoying safe pasture in Psalm 37 is even in the midst of evildoers around us. Despite the hardships you may be facing, remember that God is still faithful to get you through safely.

We are invited daily to “feed off His faithfulness” (Psalm 37:3).

Find rest that you’re not alone. Every day choose to declare, “The Lord is my Shepherd.”

What is the role of a Shepherd? The role of a Shepherd is to guide, protect, and provide for the sheep. That is who Jesus is for us. Jesus is the Shepherd and we are His sheep.

Our call is to simply follow Jesus, our Shepherd.

The meaning of “The Lord is my Shepherd” is to remember that in Jesus, we have everything that we need. Many Bible verses remind us that God will guide and establish our steps, protect us in time of trouble, and provide all that we need. 

May we renew our minds with Psalm 23:1: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing.” Even when we feel in lack, remember that you have everything you need in Jesus. Tell yourself, “The Lord is my Shepherd”.

Trust that as you choose to follow Jesus, His goodness and love will follow you all the days of your life (Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭6‬).

Even when you don’t understand the journey, trust that Jesus is still leading you as you choose to follow Him. Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

So remember, say to yourself: The Lord is my Shepherd. 

Prayer: Jesus, help me to remember Your promises when I feel overwhelmed and to hold fast to the truth that You are my Shepherd. Even when I cannot see the path ahead, help me to walk by faith, knowing that You go before me, fight for me, and lead me into peace.

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I have been attacked with fearful thoughts this past week.

As I entertained the fears running through my mind, it all started to feel real. I started asking myself, “Could this be true? Is this really happening?”

The emotions started to get to me but I remembered to bring my fears to the Lord. The moment I spoke my fears to the Lord, I realized how silly they were.

As I spent time with the Lord in his word, He opened my eyes and showed me that my fears were all attacks from the enemy. The enemy was using fear to pull me away from where God was calling me to be.

Whenever that fear would arise, I would immediately throw it out and chose to not believe in it.

The enemy wanted me to doubt God’s faithfulness and throw away every promise that He has spoken over my life. But because I drew near to God, He exposed every lie of the enemy.

As we draw near to God, his light exposes all the lies of the enemy. 

1 John 1:5 says, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” When we draw near to God, his light will expose all darkness within us. Ephesians 5:13 says, “everything exposed by the light becomes visible.”

The enemy wants us to stay isolated and keep our fears to ourselves. The last thing he wants us to do is to bring our fears to God because he knows God will expose it all.

We must not let fear stop us from either pursuing or letting go of what God is calling us to do. Fear will make us doubt in God’s goodness so that we would take things into our own hands. But it’s in these moments when we must bring our fears to God so that it can all be exposed.

Are you making your choices out of fear or faith?

There is a difference between faith and fear. Faith is believing in what God says, while fear is believing in what we feel.

Our feelings are not reliable because they are limited by our own perspective and flawed with our emotions. Jeremiah 17:9 warns us that our heart is deceitful. God however sees and knows all things. We can’t trust our feelings but we can trust in God.

Fear pulls us away from our destiny, but faith brings us closer.

If we want to see God’s good plans for our lives, we must take the steps of faith. Jesus says in John 11:40, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

What is God asking you to believe for? Will you choose to believe in his faithfulness or your own fears?

It’s impossible to have both faith and fear. We must choose which we will live by. Faith will require us to silence our fears with God’s truth. Only through a life of faith can we see God revealed. Faith will call us to the uncomfortable and unknown, but the end result will always be for our best.

Hebrews 10:35-36 reminds us to not throw away our confidence in the Lord. The verse says, “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”

Where are you putting your confidence in? Do your actions show that you believe in God?

If you want to receive what God has promised, it is going to require you to let go of your will for his will. While it may be painful, we must remember that ultimately God’s will is perfect and better than what we could ever come up with.

God has never failed anyone in the Bible and he does not plan to fail you either.

We don’t have to be afraid of obeying what God is asking us to do because it will always lead to blessings.

Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not human, that he should lie…Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” We see throughout the Bible that God has always fulfilled every promise he has spoken and his principle stands true – obedience to God will always lead to blessings.

Deuteronomy 28:2 reminds us, “All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God..” The key word in this verse is “if”. We will only see God’s blessings in our lives if we chose to silence our fears and obey God.

Live bold and courageous because God is with you. Don’t give in to fear because it will only lead you further away from God’s amazing plans for your life. So remember, silence fear.

Prayer: Lord, I choose to silence my fears with your truth. 

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