You are With Me (Yes and Amen!) | Isaiah 41:10

‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
Isaiah 41:10 NASB

As I read through the Yes and Amen devotional booklet, my heart takes and stores little pieces of knowledge, experience, and enlightenment. These little pieces feel almost like memories — like found pieces of a puzzle that I once had put together — but they’re not quite that. These pieces are more like epiphanies. The kind of epiphanies that, when they dawn on you, they provide such illumination that you can almost see the proverbial lightbulb having gone on over your head!

So much of the devotional has been relatable to me, in practical ways. I grew up on a farm, and have experienced many of the moments that Junelle so eloquently describes in her writing. Now having moved overseas, living in a big, beautiful, busy city, I find I can still relate, but in different ways.

This devotional has been a good one for my heart and soul, especially as we plan for a trip to visit family and friends in the States even as I write this (in fact, as you read, we’re celebrating a birthday on the farm!).

Planning this trip has been such a test of patience, faith, trust, and resolve — we’re traveling overseas for a month with a 7 year-old and a toddler, and will have many, many people to see and to please. There have been times I’ve wanted to throw my hands up, and have twice told my husband, “I don’t even want to go. Let’s just stay home.” But the truth is that I do want to go! I do want to see our family and friends, and I do know that the pressure I’m feeling is coming only from within.

I have been anxiously looking about, reaching here and there for solutions or alternatives, and have been depending solely on my own strength to plan, organize, schedule, and to meet expectations. (I finally handed the scheduling reins over to my husband because I was losing my mind over it!)

And maybe it seems simple, but as I read Isaiah 41:10, I read it in a new light. I read it in the context of my life right now:

‘Don’t worry Tawni, for I am with you;
Don’t anxiously look about you, trying to solve your own problems, for I am your God.
I will give you the strength and energy you need, surely I will help you,
I will confirm and support you with My righteousness.
Trust Me, Tawni.’
Isaiah 41:10 NASB (The Tawni Translation [wink, wink])

God knows me. He knows my heart. He knows me much better than I know myself, so how could I not trust Him? And I hope you’ll do the same!

xotawni

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