101 Days to Be Encouraged

Dear Friend,

I love taking pictures of trees and my father mentioned to me that our neighbor that lives across the street from our house has a huge tree in their back field. My dad told me that if I wanted to go see it then he would go with me. We decided to walk so my father, I and Devan set off for our little journey. We got close to the tree when we noticed that there was a huge dog in one of our other neighbor’s yard. Now, neither I nor my dad are afraid of dogs but this one seemed different. He didn’t even bark. He just walked with boldness like “yeah you’ve come on my territory and I’m going to get you.” It startled me and I began to pick up the pace (Ok I was about to run) but my dad quickly stopped me with an abrupt, “Don’t run. Don’t show him fear.” We kept moving forward and made it to our tree destination but then we had to turn around and come back home… the same way we came… by the dog. As we got closer to the dog’s yard, I had to make a decision because this time the dog was walking towards us: was I going to take my chances and run or was I going to stay put; close to my father. I looked at my dad and it was like something broke in my spirit. I saw him as MY FATHER; a man whose role and title says that he must protect me. He must look out for me. He must care for me. I turned to my dad and said, “Ok daddy, I am trusting you. I won’t run because I am trusting that if the dog comes over here, you won’t let him get me and even if for some reason he does get me, you will get him off”. We walked a little further and the dog came closer. My dad grabbed Devan’s bike to use as a defense mechanism and about that time the dog owner came outside and called the dog into the house.

Friend, I want to encourage you by saying sometimes in life we come to a situation where all we can do is put our trust in the name of the Lord; that He is our father and He cares for us. The enemy (of your natural circumstances) is all around you and everything within you is saying RUN…..SCREAM……HOLLER…. but you must STAND and say my only chance of survival is to stay under my father’s protection. You may not truly think He can but His name says that He is Jehovah Jireh your provider. He has to take care of and provide for you. His name says that He is Jehovah Nisse your battle fighter so He’ll fight it for you and bring victory. His name says that He is Jehovah Rophe your healer….Jehovah Shalom your peace….El Elyon…..God of the most high that has the last word…the final word.….Jehovah Rohi…your shepherd that is guiding you and leading you. You see, we did not choose God but rather God chose us and just like a parent having a child, there are responsibilities that make a parent a parent. I know you may be scared but place your trust in the name of the Lord. At least place your hope in His name; meaning you may not believe or think He can do it but you will remain because you hope that He can and just to let you know on a little secret….HE CAN and HE WILL!!!

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
Psalm 91:1-2 (I encourage you to read the whole psalm) Prayer: Oh Lord, help me to remain in peace where you have me…trusting that you will work everything out because you care for me

Call to action: instead of running away from your problems, run to the arms of God and let Him fight your battles for you