The past paralyzes, and the future is unknown. 

My calendar captures future events as my “to-do” list increases with things I should have done yesterday. In the meantime, social media drags me down in the game of “what if”: The world will come to an end if democrats win, and the world will go to hell if the republicans stay. 

As I sit here writing these words, I choose to live in the present as I move to the Secret Place— behind closed doors to say a short prayer. 

Lord, I need you now; I need you to breathe confidence into my soul and assurance that you are in control. I need to take heart and trust in you. 

As I seek solace in God’s Word, my eyes pass over John 16:33, my trembling fingers touch the words and they soothe my troubled soul: 

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

The world is living under the shadow of COVID19—it is not a trouble-free world. Death is on the doorstep and the numbers announced every evening on the news. It is a sad story of time lost, and with every death their stories die with them. Fear rises on the earth like dark clouds, and we are more aware of trouble upon trouble upon trouble.

Lord, help me take heart in the here and now with you. There is nothing in my past you didn’t know, and in the future you’ve already planned for me. 

Today, at this very hour, I will choose to breathe the breath of God and trust in the Overcomer.

My times are in his hands.

But Take Heart!

It’s not a trouble-free world

Wishful thinking couldn’t make it so

Trouble knocks on every door

 

Who holds back its bruising blow?

Where does our strength come from?

Trouble troubles the soul

 

A soldier arms herself for battle

To do otherwise is suicide

The offender still attacks

With or without our armor

 

Trouble is offensive

Purposed to cause harm

Is there more to it than meets the eye?

 

Abraham was troubled without a son.

Joseph troubled in slavery

Moses troubled in Egypt

Joshua troubled by the enemy in his camp

Job had his troubles.

 

Jesus faced troubles too

Troubled at the death of Lazarus

Storms on the Sea of Galilee

On the cross

 

Victory belongs to the Lord!

God makes himself known

Amid our trouble

 

He provided Abraham the promised son

Set the captive Joseph free

Showed Moses the parting Red Sea

For Job, the answer

Was God in the whirlwind

 

We, in the here and now,

Live it to the fullest because

God is our victory

 

Trouble’s shadow may belong

But God’s shadow is longer still

He is the Resurrection and the Life

 

The truth.

Trouble is a tool in his hand

Strength for his people

He removes the hard places

God keeps us trusting him

 

The yielded heart sees

The yielded heart knows

Moving to the rhythm of the Lord

We find peace in the storm

 

The Deliverer delivers

The Helper is here to help

The Protector protects

The Overcomer to overcome

 

It’s not a trouble-free world

Trouble knocks on every door.

But take heart, my dear sister

Our God reigns!

 

You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. (Psalm 32:7 NIV)

It’s true. We live in a troubled world. But as children of God, let us go to the Secret Place for solace. Jesus is our Victor—our Overcomer. 

Our times, including the here and now, are in his hand.