Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Christine Caine from her book, Unexpected: Leave Fear Behind, Move Forward in Faith, Embrace the Adventure (p. 51). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Oh, that is the key, isn’t it? Christine says, “Imagine how free we’d feel if we learned to truly believe that in every situation, trust was the antidote to fear, that consciously trusting God would cause our moments of anxiety and panic to be short-lived. Imagine if we could grow to a place where trusting him was our first reaction. ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight’ (Proverbs 3:5–6). She then says, “I believe if we did, then we would become overcomers who were never overwhelmed. We would become Christians who, when unexpected events occur, demonstrate the power, love, and sound mind God has given us. We would become believing believers who f

A thought by Christine Caine from her book, Unexpected: Leave Fear Behind, Move Forward in Faith, Embrace the Adventure (p. 42). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Now we all know what fear is like, don’t we? Christine says, “It lies to us. It shrinks us. It builds dread into our hearts. It tempts us to believe there are no answers. That the unexpected is something to fear. That something is always lurking around the corner.” She goes on, “ But fear is not from God, and it’s not more powerful than God. He knew it would come to steal our peace, not once or twice, but constantly throughout our lives. So, in his great mercy and faithfulness to us, God made a way for us to be more than equipped to overcome its effects and walk in faith. He gave us three offensive weapons to lean into when we’re attacked: ‘For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind ’ (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV, em

A thought by Christine Caine from her book, Unexpected: Leave Fear Behind, Move Forward in Faith, Embrace the Adventure (p. 28). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Christine says, “No matter how much we wish we could go around a situation, under it, over it, or be delivered from it, there are times God wants to walk us through a process because that is what’s best for us.” It may not be what we think is best, but we need to trust Him because He knows what is best. She goes on, “The challenge then becomes choosing not to allow the enemy to use these unplanned and upsetting events to rob us of life. The enemy wants to derail our lives from the plans and purposes of God—if not for a lifetime, then at least for a season. He wants to pull our focus away from God’s promises and divert it to our crisis. He wants to paralyze us in the present and to veil our vision and hope for our future. “But I have found that moving