Category Archives: fighting fear

for the one who’s tired of waiting: a kindling post

Posted on by July 2, 2024

Hey friend. You, the tired and worn out one. You’ve been pushing, pushing, pushing. Waiting for momentum. Unsure of what tomorrow will look like. Not sure how to plan for it. Trying to be faithful in these moments, but there’s so much to be faithful in that you’re not sure if you’re doing it right, or giving everything the proper attention.

for the one who's tired of waiting: a kindling post by shannon guerra

The Lord sees and knows. He sees where you’ve taken risks that seem foolish, and where you’ve obeyed but the results don’t seem to make sense. He sees your wrestle with striving, and your desire to just be and abide.

He’s not impatient or annoyed by you constantly asking Him if you’re doing it right. He’s not shaking His head and tsk-ing, wishing you’d get your act together and stop bugging Him.

He’s a good, good Father.

He loves your heart that continues to press forward in obedience and surrender, especially when you don’t know what it looks like exactly or how things will turn out.

You can trust Him to tell you what you need to know when you ask Him. And you can trust Him to give you what you need when you ask Him, too.

For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

— Luke 11:10-13

These peonies should’ve bloomed over a week ago but we had the rainiest, cloudiest, gloomiest June I can ever remember. We’re almost halfway through the summer, and it’s still cloudy.

And there’s a word in them for those who have been waiting:

The Lord is still shining on your situation. I know it seems like it’s taking so long and you’ve almost given up hoping and praying and watering and expecting, but your answer is on the cusp of blooming. Do not cut it down too early. Don’t give up on tending it. He is putting things in order, and answers, solutions, and breakthrough are going to start unfolding faster than you can believe.

You can trust Him.

Yes, He’s teaching you perseverance. But He’s not teaching you to be miserable, resigned, or crestfallen.

He’s teaching you how faithful, loving, good, and creative He is.

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

— Isaiah 43:18-19

So you have been waiting and waiting and waiting. And now this: Just a little movement, so small it’s almost insulting. One petal unfolds, sticking out awkwardly, while everything else is still tightly closed.

Is this a joke? Doesn’t God know you need so much more? You have been running and running, and this small bump of a reward doesn’t even come close to what you were hoping for.

But can you praise Him in this small thing? Can you shun disappointment for a minute and refuse to listen to the lies of discouragement long enough to thank Him for this movement?

You want to, because future movement depends on it. Our worship will make the difference between this thing firing up or fizzling out.

And hey, friend…of course it doesn’t look like it should yet. Things are just getting started.

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation…

— 2 Peter 3:14-15a

You know those things that don’t make sense? The ones that aren’t adding up right: A plus B ought to equal C but instead it’s equaling negative five or something. Even though all the right components are there, it still isn’t turning out right. Why have things been so slow, so small, when you know they should’ve been so big?

Did the Lord forget?

Is He angry with you?

Did He decide you don’t really deserve it?

No.

He’s growing your wings.

He’s teaching you to see, and to be alert, and to recognize that some things around you are not just what they seem.

He’s making you strong, and preparing you for exploits.

Things will speed up soon enough, and when they do, you’ll be ready because you surrendered to this process of growth and preparation.

For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?—

the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.

He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights.

He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.

You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.

— Psalm 18:31-36

It doesn’t make sense because you are only seeing part of what’s going on. And part of what you’re seeing is misleading and meant to discourage you. Don’t fall for it.

Just like stepping on the scale when someone else is putting weight on it, the numbers you are seeing aren’t the full picture and many of them are false. Don’t put all your trust in the numbers or other things you can see. Put your trust in God who hears you and knows you and answers prayer. He is answering it. Don’t let discouragement cause you to give up when victory is so close.

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

— Psalm 25:8-10

The Lord sees those things you’ve been quiet about and trying to be brave for. He knows you’ve been inwardly wilting, trying to stand tall but feeling like liquid inside, unsure of how much longer you can go before collapsing.

He has no intention of letting you collapse, though.

And He’s not playing games, testing to see how far you can go. He knows. He’s not some scientist experimenting on you like a lab rat.

He knows how far you can go.

So He’s preparing you to be there.

Think about that for a second.

You can trust Him with change, and with your future, and with your family as you get there, and beyond.

You can trust Him to be good to you during the whole process.

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.

— 2 John 1:3

Here’s the printable version of this post:

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Looking for more posts like this? Kindling is a series of prophetic devotionals and encouragement to relight your fire in the places it’s gone out. They’re all right here. Or subscribe to get everything right to your inbox.

if you’re afraid to move forward: a kindling post

Posted on by June 23, 2023

Type type type, delete. Spend thirty minutes trying to come up with the perfect metaphor.

Make three attempts, delete every one. Try a different tack for another twenty minutes. Delete sentence.

Review paragraph. Ponder life decisions.

Finally, the easiest answer is the best one, though it takes the most sacrifice: Delete the whole paragraph.

if you're afraid to move forward -- a kindling post

But ohhh, the words and time that were put into it. Were they wasted?

Nope.

Those were the invisible words, helping you to get to the visible words you just can’t see yet. Typing and deleting is part of the process, and you can’t rush it, skip it, or fast forward. It must be endured.

Because if you need to give up something to start over, that’s the fastest way forward.

So here’s the word:

The Lord is going to use those painful things in your past to change the trajectory of your future. He’s not going to waste them. He never lets the enemy win. He is constantly moving in love on your behalf, and you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

— Psalm 23:5-6

You don’t have to be afraid to turn back to God. You don’t need to fear His response to the gravity of what you’ve done or what you’ve been through or what you might confess. You don’t need to be afraid to admit what happened or what you want to happen. He already knows the things you’re afraid to tell Him.

As soon as you turn toward Him, He sees your heart of surrender. As soon as you repent, He sees Jesus standing right there, between sin and salvation, and you are covered.

Perfect love casts out fear. Perfect Love has made the way for you to live free from fear, free from your past, and free from anxiety or terror about your future.

He is longing for your return, for you to walk in righteousness, for you to be in right standing with Him. There’s no barrier. Fear has no place. Shame has no place. You are free forever as you come close and find your Redeemer. He is the warrior standing ready to shield you from the enemy, and He’s also the Master who will train you to battle on the right side.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.
— 1 John 4:18-19

If you realize you’ve done something wrong — or even something you just should have done differently — remember that the Lord is not shunning you. He is not pushing you away in His correction.

The Lord convicts, but the enemy condemns. You know this already, but let’s call it out so the enemy can stop having a heyday in your heart, okay?

If you are feeling separated from God because you realize you should have done something differently, we command shame to go away in the name of Jesus.

The Lord is drawing you near in love so you don’t repeat the same mistake. So you can move forward in joy and victory.

The enemy is trying to prevent you from being close to the Lord so you will continue old mistakes and compound them with new ones.

We mature by repenting, and we repent by admitting we should have done differently and clinging close to the Father who loves us.

He loves you. He is for you. He is not the one reminding you over and over of sin that you’ve already dealt with. He’s the one calling you forward into the next thing.

Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.

Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!

— Psalm 27:11-13

The Lord is not going to ask you to surrender something that generates true life in you. He is going to ask you to surrender the things that suck life out of you, though you may have become reliant on the process and the pain of it.

Sometimes we take on our weaknesses as our identity. But it’s time to let those things go.

Don’t let what the enemy has done in your life define you.

Listen to the Lord and ask Him for His perspective. He is cutting away at the false idols and old lies and habitual thoughts that have held you back, and replacing them with truth that does not waver based on opinions, circumstances, or feelings.

When you lay those things down, you’ll be laying down pride and stubbornness and fear, also. There’s tremendous freedom ahead.

I hear you hesitating, asking all the questions. But you just surrendered fear, remember? So don’t run back to pick it up again, afraid of the freedom in your future. God has good plans for you in the days ahead. Rise up and face tomorrow boldly, because you are covered by the King.

…Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
— Romans 1:4b-6

Just because a situation or circumstance started wrong, it doesn’t mean that everything that came out of it is also wrong and worthless.

Just because something began with sin or mistakes or regret doesn’t mean that every successive part of that situation is tainted.

God is the redeemer who is constantly taking the situations we’ve blown from the get go and turning them for good, wringing righteousness and goodness from where we go awry. So don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.

Take the right steps now, and give God room to move. Don’t give up on His ability to redeem.

No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the Lord.
— Proverbs 21:30

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
— Romans 8:26-28

Jesus, thank You for tomorrow. Thank You for coming, for always being with us, for giving us the Holy Spirit and teaching us to hear Your voice.

Protect our morning and the rest of the day. Protect our expectations and our voice tones, our conversations and our travels. Draw us close to each other and to You, and fill the day with memories that we love looking back to, together.

Our thoughts will be Your thoughts tomorrow. We are renewing our minds, we are in Your word, and we are seeing You move in ways this year that we’ve never recognized before.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

— John 1:12-14

Here’s the printable version of this post:

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Looking for more posts like this? Kindling is a series of prophetic devotionals and encouragement to relight your fire in the places it’s gone out. They’re all right here. Or subscribe to get everything right to your inbox.

if you need a break: a kindling post

Posted on by June 13, 2023

I had a dream once where I was speaking to an adoptive mom. I asked about her story and how she was doing, and she tried a few times to speak but finally she just cried.

And I looked at her and said, “You probably need a break.”

if you need a break: a kindling post

It is a word for so many of us. You’ve been going and going, pushing through pain and discouragement and impossible situations, and you are so weary you don’t even have words for it.

You probably need a break, too.

And you might be like, Duh, of course I need a break. If I knew how to take a break I would do it. But do you know my life? There’s no break, no slowing down. No reprieve, no respite, no money, no vacation time.

I get it. Believe me. The need to take a break can feel like one more burden, one more impossible task that you’re failing at and unable to accomplish.

So, here’s the word: The break we need isn’t ours to achieve or figure out. It’s His to do for us.

I am learning that our role in the break — our breaking — is the surrender of the belief that we can and should be able to do everything. I have ran into the wall so many times, feeling like a failure over things I was never supposed to do or control or be responsible for in the first place.

Other people’s choices. The sale of our books. Our kids’ behavior. How people see me. So many things.

Here’s what He’s telling me over and over:

Obedience is doing what He’s told me to do. Surrender is trusting Him with what only He can do.

And it is a breaking of my pride and sense of accomplishment. It’s a good breaking, though.

So maybe you need that kind of a break. Some respite or a vacation would be a good break, too — but that is also His job, and we can surrender to it.

I’ve told you this before: The yarn does nothing on its own. It has to yield to the hands of a maker.

But I’ve been wrestling and relearning and going deeper with this lately: We abide, but He does the work. We seek the Kingdom, but He does the work. We obey in what He calls us to, but He does the work.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

— Matthew 6:33

It’s all Him — but also, it’s us…but it’s Him!…but it’s also us.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

— John 15:4-5

We connect with Him, and we bear fruit, but only because of the Vine. All glory and honor go to Him, but He lets us not only “seek for glory and honor and immortality” but He also lets us have them when we carry the light yoke and yield to His work in and through us.

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

— Revelation 4:11

He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.

— Romans 2:6-10

It’s us but Him but us, with Him.

All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

— John 17:10-11

Jesus, free us from fear and anxiety as we walk in the tension of doing and trusting, seeking and surrendering. Protect us from worries, feelings of not-enough, rejection, trauma, insecurities, compulsions or tics, shame, regret, unforgiveness of ourselves or anyone else. All those things go now, in Jesus’ name, and do not come back.

Help us do the work to keep those things gone. You do the work, but help us maintain it by keeping our “temple” clean and inhospitable to the enemy’s attacks. We choose forgiveness. We renew our mind and read the Word. We examine our thoughts and reject those that don’t line up with truth, instead of letting anything and everything that flies into our mind take root.

We pray for Your peace and freedom tonight in waves, for more encouragement than we thought we could experience in areas we’ve been struggling in. We pray for that peace and encouragement and hope in a way that feels solid, steady, growing, something we can grasp onto and not let go of.

Give us all the holy stubbornness we need to be steadfast in the mission You’ve called us to.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

— Hebrews 13:20-21

Want the printable version of this post? Here you go:

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Looking for more posts like this? Kindling is a series of prophetic devotionals and encouragement to relight your fire in the places it’s gone out. They’re all right here. Or subscribe to get everything right to your inbox.