"In the multitude of my anxious thoughts within me, Your comforts cheer and delight my soul!" -------- "I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears."

Well, the Lord stepped onto that road with me the other morning and helped me to turn from anxiety to faith.

As I settled into my quiet place, my spirit was anything but quiet. My mind was going every which way, with myriad thoughts and prayers. It seemed I was battling on too many fronts, and there was no way I could cover all the bases or see a positive outcome for any of my concerns. I seemed helpless to quiet my spirit and the thoughts came and went, until I realized I was sinking fast into anxious thoughts and forboding, rather than praying in faith -- and old slewfoot with his condemnation came slithering in for the kill. If he could get me to walk away from my time with the Lord as defeated as when I walked in, he would have won the battle that day.

Suddenly, the Holy Spirit within me rose up and I said, "Wait a minute! Satan, I rebuke you! Lord Jesus--help! Do You have anything to say to me in the midst of all this?"

I'm so thankful for the living WORD of God! Into my mind came the words, "Gird up the loins of your mind..." I found the Scripture in I Peter 1:13:

"Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

I started to meditate on what girding up my mind would mean, and another Scripture came to mind from I Cor. 10:5:

"Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captvity to the obedience of Christ."

I immediately felt the peace of the Spirit because, as I agreed with Him that I should reign in my thoughts, and REST in His GRACE, He was doing the very thing in me that He was instructing me to do. It's really all about Him, you know!

In the Peter passage, He says to "rest your hope fully upon...grace." Romans 4:16 says, "it is of faith that it might be according to GRACE." We feel so obligated to make it all happen, even in ministering His Life to others. But it is the Spirit that gives LIFE. We must rest in His ability to do what we cannot do, and trust Him alone, even when our faith is being shaken and tested. Remember, the Israelites could not enter the promised land because of their unbelief (Hebrews 3:19). Everything God does in us, through us or for us is going to be done by FAITH, or it isn't going to happen. He only responds to our faith in His ability to make it happen, so that no flesh will have a place to boast or glory.

In that place of resting in Him, I realized that He wasn't surprised by any of the circumstances of my life, but had everything under control. What a relief! I was reminded again of the mighty powerful God to Whom I was praying and that He had seated me in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus -- at His right hand! I remembered that Jesus was interceding for me right at that moment. And I suddenly realized that the battlefield of my mind had been vacated by the enemy. Wow! I expressed my renewed faith in worship to God, because just one moment in His Presence changes everything. Thank you, Jesus!

In the testing of our faith, He is asking us some probing questions. Among them might be these:

l Am I really your Source for every need?

l Do you really believe that I can do no wrong?

l Do you really believe that I cannot lie?

l Do you really believe that My promises are true?

l Have you really surrendered every area of your life to Me?

l Do you really believe that I will keep whatever and whoever you commit to Me -- and have you committed all into My keeping?

l Is your confidence in your own ability, or in My Spirit working through you?

l Have you really ceased from your own works and entered My REST -- or are you still trying to earn My GRACE?

l Am I really your Healer?

l Are you really trusting your future to Me -- and do you really believe I have a purpose for your life?

l Do you really want to be free from the sin that so easily besets you -- and do you believe that My death on the Cross broke the power of that sin in your life?

At times our answer to some of these questions can only be "Yes, Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief!" But He hears the cry of our hearts today. He has promised that as we gaze on His Glory, our faces unveiled (open and honest with Him), we are being transformed into His image from Glory to Glory, by the Spirit of the Lord (II Cor 3:18). We can REST there!

by Bonnie Mabon