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I’ve noticed a new habit in people. We have a tendency to blame all bad things that happen in this year on the year 2020. I can see bad things in January 2021 being blamed on residual 2020. I’m sure it will go down in textbooks as one of the most infamous years in history. But I would argue that 2020 wasn’t only a bad year in terms of the things we have gone through, but it was the worst in terms of the fact that it was something we had never gone through before. We weren’t ready for it. We weren’t prepared. I’ve personally struggled with depression and anxiety for years, but there’s a comfort in being able to recognize it and know what I’m getting myself into. I am a huge advocate for therapy and mental health and what I’ve taken the most from it is the strategies that it provides. Lo and behold, there was no toolbox for widespread pandemic. Or is there?

When you are being swept up by the deep waters, remember who you are in the eyes of God.

 

Say what you will about Satan, but he’s creative. He will keep coming up with new hardships and struggles to inflict on us, but across the board there are some common denominators in how we can handle them. Isaiah 43:2 tells us, “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” God will always be with us, but I always seem to forget that in the middle of a depressive episode when I can’t seem to get out of bed in the morning. It’s easy to memorize the scripture, but it doesn’t always help until the meaning behind it is applied to your life.

Why would God even want to be with us? When you are being swept up by the deep waters, remember who you are in the eyes of God. You are chosen (1 Peter 2:9), you are treasured (Deut. 14:2), you are a masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10), you are a child of God (1 John 3:1), you are the child of a King! You are a whole King’s kid!! Let those truths come alive in your life because when you understand how He sees you, you’ll understand why God would want to be with you in the fire. You’ll have a deeper understanding of how vast His love for you really is and the extent to which He will go for you.

Remember who God is. Remember exactly who we’re working with. With that will come an understanding for the full value of His promise to us when He says that you will not drown, you will not be burned up, you will not be consumed by the flames. God is sovereign (Psalm 103:19), faithful (Lamentations 3:23), powerful (1 Chronicles 29:11), a mighty warrior who saves (Zeph. 3:17). Remembering who He is helps us to remember how small the flames we’re walking through are in comparison.

This year has brought with it a plethora of uniquely difficult situations and I have no idea what you’ve gone through. But, I know who you are in Christ and I know who God is and in that I find my rest.

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