Well I hope you have been enjoying our walk through just a few of the Psalms that can bring us strength as we walk through adversity and frankly scary moments in our lives and frankly we are dealing with a lot of scary times right now.  There are so many unknowns in our lives with this pandemic can affect anything from our physical health to our summer plans right down to our financial futures.  One of the things that I really wanted you to understand through the course of this week is that you can overcome fear but to do that you have to surrender your life to God.  Every day I have very intentionally made a point to keep stripping away the excuses that we all make as to why we could never come fear…I have done that because someone who struggles with fear can tell you every reason why they should be afraid, and reason away every reason why they should not…that is what fear does.  You need to understand that overcoming fear is not a personality thing, it’s not a circumstance thing, it isn’t about your level of intelligence or the talents and skills that God has or hasn’t given to you…the key is turning to God and surrendering your life to Him.  We have built out of this one idea in the life of David that shows us how it’s done…

1 Samuel 30:7 But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. ESV

The key to overcoming fear is surrendering your life to God.  It’s seeking God first.  It’s coming to Jesus to find peace.  It’s taking all of our stress and worry to him as Paul encouraged us to do.  It’s going to God who is love who casts out all fear.  It’s exactly why David could press on in the face of this terrible moment and countless others in his life…because David strengthened himself in the Lord and you and I can too.

I’m hoping that through this week you have been engaging the Scriptures with me and answering the questions in a way that is hopefully bringing the Scriptures to life for you.  I have really been drawn to the Psalms lately, frankly I can’t get out of them…and one of the things that I have been doing is reading the particular Psalm and then really finding that one sentence that hits my heart the most, and just hanging out there.  Well as I continued to dive into which Scriptures I wanted to share with you, there is just so much we could do, but I’m finding that sometimes one sentence is enough.  So today’s study is just that, it’s one sentence that I hope just flows into your heart and becomes both part of your thinking and your life.  I believe if we can focus on this one sentence it can bring a level of peace to our lives that we just won’t find anywhere else in life.  So let’s just read it, and think through this as we try to overcome fear of the future and worrying about tomorrow.

Psalms 115:3 Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes. NLT

Now Sam you don’t understand our Government is trying to use this Pandemic…just stop, let’s read it again.

Psalms 115:3 Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes. NLT

Sam if you only understood my circumstances you see I can’t have peace in my life because my mother-in-law, she said this and my….just stop, let’s read it again.

Psalms 115:3 Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes. NLT

Ok Sam I see what you are doing here but what if this pandemic never ends and we have no vaccine and my children can’t go back to school in the fall and…hey, let’s stop and read it again.

Psalms 115:3 Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes. NLT

Sam you are a little simple minded, I see what you are trying to do but I haven’t seen anyone other than my immediate family in like 2 months and I’m a people person and….hey, let’s read it again.

Psalms 115:3 Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes. NLT

So how does that sentence hit your heart?  If you haven’t stopped the video here’s what I would like you to do, take this one verse and write it down, print it out, go to my Instagram or My Bible App and grab the image I have made and posted and make it your wallpaper on your phone…look at it, read it again, and every time that fear hits your life, take a deep breath and read it again.

Psalms 115:3 Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes. NLT

Now I would like to ask you some questions, so again today take the time to reflect intentionally on this and these questions.

• What can you take from this passage as I walk through fear and difficulty in my own life?
• What does that mean to you especially in the times we live in today with a Global Pandemic on our hands?
• What does your heart say to you when you read this sentence?
• How could this truth change your life moving forward?
• Have you seen a theme in all the verses we have studied this week and if so what is it?

Before you move on from this moment, take some time and pray, talk to your Heavenly Father about what it looks like to turn to God, and to find strength in Him.

You can overcome fear, doubt, and worry in your life.  It will happen as you strengthen yourself in God.  So continue to look at your life, feel and examine your emotions, and ask yourself what you turn to when the intensity of fear is hitting your life.  Because you are turning to something and it needs to be God…if it isn’t God, you need to push in on that, and begin to strengthen yourself in Him, or you will always have a reason to not walk in the kind of peace, strength and joy that you can have when you live a life fully surrendered to Him.