By Robin Walls
Something that always amazes me is how God knows me so personally. He knows what I need and when I need it and He delivers it in just the way that I need to hear it. He knows me.
I'll give you an example... A few months ago, at church, it was the beginning of new series. I was feeling emotional since I had been supporting a close family member who had been dealing with a difficult health issue and I had been letting fear rule me in regards to his condition. I was exhausted and felt weak and broken down by this fear.
I was sitting in the sanctuary between two friends waiting for the sermon to begin. The worship band started and to my surprise, the very first song had the words "no fear" in the lyrics. I chuckled and said to myself "I hear you, Lord." I love when He sends me a little bit of love like that.
The band played a few more songs and then we were told that we could sit down. As I sat down, I grabbed the bulletin and the enclosed papers off my seat. As I glanced at the bulletin, I saw the title of the new series.... "Why Are You Afraid?" Are you kidding me? God was speaking to me, to my heart. As I've felt so many other times at Grace, I felt like this message was clearly just for me.
As the sermon started, I glanced at the cards that were with my bulletin and noticed a beautiful purple card with the following words: YOU DROWNED MY FEARS IN PERFECT LOVE. What?! Everyone must have gotten this with their bulletins, right? I asked my friend on my left if she'd gotten one of these cards on her seat. She said no and started looking around to see if she had in fact gotten one. I turned to my friend on my right and asked her if she had one in her seat. She said no. I was stunned. I turned my attention to the stage but for a few minutes, all I could think about was how that card had gotten on my seat.
Then it hit me. I realized it didn't matter how it had gotten to me, only that it had. God had used someone and something to get His message to me, the exact message I needed to hear. And our God, the Almighty King of Kings, knows ME so well and knows how stubborn and hard headed I am that he delivered that message not once, not twice but THREE times in just a few minutes.
He says it clearly in Isaiah 41:10:
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
I found out later that my friend to the right had printed up a bunch of cards with encouraging sayings to leave in the bedrooms of her teenagers and she had placed one on my seat. Here's the thing though...she had printed up several, not just about fear but all kinds of different sayings and that is the one that ended up on my seat. God used her to bless me that day and I'm grateful.
I'm grateful that in this big world full of so many people who love and worship Him, our big God finds ways to let me know how personal our relationship is and that He loves me.