“Be still, and know that I am God…”

Psalm 46:10

This morning Jordan has something on her heart that has been bothering her for days. She has tried repeatedly to “just let go and let God” as her friend suggested, but it keeps coming back to her thoughts with a vengeance.

Jordan realizes the situation is out of her control but the temptation to obsess over it has simply gotten the best of her.

She can’t seem to shake it.

Jordan needs more than a cliché to help her win this battle for her thoughts. If she is going to have peace again, she will need something substantial to beat back the voices of fear and panic.

To her pleasant surprise Jordan found that something while reading her Bible. As she was meandering her way through Exodus, Jordan was struck by a couple of verses that seemed to apply directly to her. She was reading the part where the children of Israel were being chased by the bad guys and, like her, they were panic-stricken and overcome with a sense of doom about the future.

In what had to have been one of Moses’ best leadership moments, this is what he said to calm the people down:

“Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. ¹⁴ The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

Exodus 14:13 (NLT)

Jordan felt empowered by those last lines…The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm. To her, this was so much more than a cliché. To calm fears, Moses gave the people more than nice sounding words; he assured them that God himself was nearby and had the upper hand on the adversaries.

This meant that God was actually aware of and personally involved in their lives.

Suddenly that thing that was harassing Jordan’s thoughts and creating anxiety for her had less of a grip on her heart. For the first time she understood that the key to remaining calm in crisis is in knowing (and believing) that God has promised to fight for her. The reason she could give it to God as her friend suggested is because He already had it in the first place.

In that moment Jordan decided to release the issue that was bugging her into God’s care. Not that it went willingly or easily. But every time those anxious thoughts tried to come tip-toeing back into her consciousness, she would kick them right back to the Lord where they belonged. It took a few days of this back and forth tussle, but eventually Jordan had peace again.

casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:8

Friend, if you find yourself needing more than a cliché today to deal with whatever you’re up against, we’re here to remind you that in Jesus, you’ve got it. He’s way more than a cliche. He is personally present with you and He promises to never leave.

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.