Even There, Even Then

 Where Can I Go (Psalm 139) ~ Ellie Holcomb

even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.

~ Psalm 139:10 NIV

 

Our devotional from Friday morning noted Psalm 139:10. To aid in understanding, the girls and I read the whole chapter. I thought the devotional was a good read, but I didn’t think much more about it until that night. The plan was for the four of us to go camping this past weekend, but this fire that we’re in caused our plans to change. At 8:30pm, I had to drive Brad home in a rainstorm, on dark roads, with a foggy windshield. Though we are walking through fire, Friday night felt more like passing through the waters.

 

Life can feel overwhelming, dark, and scary at times. Even then, the Lord will be with you. Even there, He will be your guide. As David said to the Lord, “even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you,” (v. 12).

 

Even if you can’t see the road, or the next step.

Even there, the Lord will light the way.

Even when it feels hopeless, and the fire and waters appear unrelenting.

Even then, the Lord will rejoice over you with singing.

Even when you’ve reached the end of your rope and you can’t seem to find your way back to His peace and joy, again.

Even there, the Lord will be with you; He will hold you, even carry you.

 

Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

~ Psalm 139:7-12 NI

 

Even when the devil attacks.

Even when fear and hopelessness are biting at your heels.

Even when plans change.

Even when you don’t know what to do.

Even there.

Even then.

And always.

The Lord will be with you.

©Heather Potts 2024

You're Wonderful!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91hHw1YPqxE

Communion ~ Maverick City, feat. Steffany Gretzinger and Brandon Lake

 

And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit. ~ 2 Corinthians 3:18 AMP

 

You’re wonderful! It’s true! I’m not making it up, putting you on, or stretching the truth. You’re also strong, bold, courageous, fierce, and victorious. Have I mentioned that you’re gentle, kind, loving, compassionate, patient, and generous? If that’s not enough, you’re also full of wisdom and knowledge, as well as very creative.

 

It’s all true, regardless of how you act, feel, or look. Perhaps the mirror shows some gray hairs, wrinkles, or extra weight. Though you may feel stressed, overwhelmed, and extremely exhausted, your worst action on your worst day can’t negate this truth.

 

Check it out:

Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; … So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them, (Genesis 1:26-27 AMP).

If you’re thinking that was before sin, let me assure you God had a plan! He buried and then raised us to life with Christ:

In Him you were also circumcised…by the [spiritual] circumcision of Christ…having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him [to a new life] through [your] faith in the working of God, [as displayed] when He raised Christ from the dead, (Colossians 2:11-12 AMP).

When you are in Christ and a child of God, you “have put on the new [spiritual] self who is being continually renewed in true knowledge in the image of Him who created the new self,” (Colossians 3:10 AMP).

 

2 Corinthians 3:18 says we are continually and progressively being transformed into God’s image, from glory to glory. You don’t have to believe me or take my word for it. But I hope you’ll believe what God says about you because it’s true.

 

By the way, I’m fabulous! And so are you!

©Heather Potts 2021

Eradicating Shadow Monsters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSBwg3FH_54

Fill This Place ~ Red Rocks Worship

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. ~ John 1:5 ESV

Perspective: what you see and know.

On March 17, 2015, Brad received the first of two failed spinal injections. Following were spinal surgery, infection, and a month of daily IV antibiotics at a clinic 30-minutes away, all with our two toddlers in tow. My perspective was overwhelmed, at best.

By the end of the day, yesterday, March 17, 2020, I was exhausted. A team of us helped teachers prepare families to do schoolwork from home for at least three weeks. The unknown and what ifs are the scariest part, like a shadow monster in a child’s bedroom.

Consider it: alone in her room, a child watches as the shadow monster emerges. Not knowing what it will do to her, she cries. Dad comes in and turns on the light, eliminating the monster. Then, Dad turns off the light. While the child sees only the monster, Dad sees and begins to reveal the truth. One part of the shadow is from the lamp shade, another part is from a coat hanging on the bed post, and the last part is from a tree branch outside. Once the shadows are picked apart and the fear subsides, the child can sleep in peace.

Perspective is so much of our reality. In 2015, my outlook was bleak. But looking back, I see how God was strengthening us, drawing us ever closer to Himself. We learned to lean in and listen much more carefully. We also learned that God was truly our only Source and would, in fact, provide all we needed.

Today, my prayer is that God would pick apart the shadow monster, eliminating our fears in His light. Remember, He’s with us, holding our hands, and giving us what we need as He walks us through this season.

©Heather Potts 2020

You're a Good Mom

Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up. ~ Proverbs 12:25 NLT

For over a year now, I’ve been attending Wednesday Morning Prayer at one of our church campuses. One morning, several months ago, a man I didn’t really know walked up and said, “While I was praying, God spoke to me and said to tell you ‘you’re a good mom.’ When I heard that I said, ‘Oh Lord,’ but He said to tell you. You’re a good mom.” Those words really rocked me at my core. Honestly, I haven’t really felt like a “good mom.” I always felt like I was trying to play “catch-up” with all those “other good moms.” I felt like I was on the bottom of the bell-curve. Somehow, the hurtful words of people and the lies of the enemy were easier to believe…

But my Daddy, He says I find my truth, my strength, and my identity in Him. If I believe that He is a good and perfect Father, then I must also believe that what He says about me is true.

Maybe you’ve been like me and you’ve believed the lie that you’re not good enough. Just as a man at a prayer meeting told me, you need to know: You’re a good mom. I can say that because we are made in our Father’s likeness and image and He promises, “I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you,” (Isaiah 46:4 NLT). Though we’re often given more than we can handle in our humanness, God doesn’t give us more than His strength in us can carry…because He’s carrying us.

If someone you know—or even you—has been struggling to believe the truth, remind them that their identity is found not in a lie or some hurtful words, but in their good and perfect Daddy who is madly in love with them.

©Heather Potts 2016