Just in time for Mother’s Day weekend, I’ve invited my friend Karen Ehman to share a devotional with us from her new book, Pressing Pause: 100 Quiet Moments for Moms to Meet with Jesus. We’re also giving away TWO COPIES of the book and one beautiful bracelet. Keeping reading to find out more.
As a little girl I loved being outdoors. I could often be found playing kickball with the neighborhood kids or riding my bike around the block. I liked to splash in puddles and jump in piles of leaves. There was one aspect, however, about being outside that I didn’t particularly care for: the critters.
Spiders were scary … dogs terrifying. And I couldn’t even bear the thought of snakes.
My intense fear of these creatures often kept me from fully engaging in play.
Unfortunately, even when I didn’t encounter creepy-crawlies outdoors, they occasionally wound up in my dreams at night. I would have the same reoccurring nightmare of snakes slithering toward me while I stood frozen, unable to run away. When I would wake up, I would be in a panic, heart wildly beating, palms sweating. I never thought my fears would go away until the one summer when I had no other choice.
The summer I turned 20, I took a job at a nature center teaching four-year-olds. It didn’t cross my mind that keeping company with critters would be a part of my duties. I had to capture insects to examine and release, scoop tadpoles to study pond life, and even hold the snakes that were kept in glass tanks in the main building.
Although everything in me wanted to run away, there were little eyes on me. So, I whispered a prayer for strength, pushed past my fears, and made those kids think I was a critter-lovin’ instructor whose calm demeanor (and lack of screaming!) showed them there was nothing to fear. If their teacher wasn’t freaking out, why should they?
Even though I worked through my fear that summer, as an adult now, I’m still tempted to “freak out” with fear. My imagination concocts all sorts of scenarios peppered with dread and doom. Sometimes I can’t shake fear as I try to fall asleep.
But I have come to trust this perspective-shifting truth: God is not worried. He’s not in heaven wringing His hands, wondering just how everything will eventually turn out. He is in control. He is loving.
God longs to use the circumstances of our lives to mold our mind, craft our character, and chase away the fears that threaten to slither in, paralyzing us and rendering us ineffective.
Ever the patient and wise teacher, if He isn’t freaking out, why should we?
Proverbs 3:24-26a is a sweet promise to us…
Now that passage doesn’t promise that we won’t ever encounter sudden disasters in life. But it does reassure us that we have no need to fear them. Why? Because the Lord—our gracious and wise teacher—is our security. He will be there to comfort and to guide as He teaches us the lessons we need to learn.
With God as our security, we can have calm in our present.
With God as our security, we can face the future without fear. And we can share this confidence we gain to inspire others, helping to keep them from unnecessary fret and worry.
Why it even helps me deal with little critters that get inside my house without squirming.
Well . . . without squirming too much.
Enter to Win
We are giving away two Pressing Pause devotionals and a beautiful bracelet from Fashion & Compassion. Written by my dear friends Karen Ehman and Ruth Schwenk, Pressing Pause: 100 Quiet Moments to Meet with Jesus offers us a calm way to start our day, to refresh ourselves in Christ and drink deeply of His presence so we are ready to pour out love, time, and energy into the people who matter most!
These 100 encouraging devotions for moms has helped me start each day with Scripture, drawing on God’s power, soaking up His Word, and learning practical ways to love and 
serve my family more like Christ each day. And one of my favorite features is the set of questions and optional journaling or notes area at the end of each day’s devotional.
Just a few minutes each day can help you center your heart and mind on what God has for you as His beloved daughter. So resist the rush. Halt the hustle. Press pause and find some calm in the chaos.
TO ENTER TO WIN simply click “Share Your Thoughts” below today’s post and do just that. Your comment will be your entry into the drawing! Two winners will be chosen and contacted on Monday, May 9th.
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I’d say fear is one of my greatest obstacles! I often pray myself to sleep quoting Proverbs 3:24!!! What a beautiful and comforting word from our Father!!!
What a great reminder. Thank you!
Thank you, Renee. And thank you Lord Jesus for always providing. You know my needs right now. You know that despite all I read that I am worried that I can’t make ends meet this month. I do trust you, and I will keep praying and believing that you will get me through this!!
Great post as always. Thank you for sharing your heart snd encouraging us mamas! It’s a very hard job but so thankful for the opportunity you raise our daughter even tho some days I want to tear my hair out! Haha 😉
Blessings to each You lovelies snd Happy Mother’s Day!! <3
Such perfect timing. I’ve been struggling with fear since my recent divorce with the weight of needing to provide for myself and 2 children in the midst of a job layoff and beginning of a new career. God has been good and faithful in meeting my needs. I would love this devotional.
A Great God never has to worry
This reminds me so much of my mother, she would have loved this. This will be my first Mother’s Day without her, she passed away in August, 2015, at the Blessed age of 92.
Would love to win this..I love all the inspirational material that you do..very comforting and uplifting..
This is timely for so many, including myself. Fear holds us captive and at times has kept me from moving forward. I’ve learned and continue to learn that Jesus has it figured out already, so what am I afraid of. I just starting writing a book, that God has called me to write, and the greatest thing stopping me had been fear.
Blessings, and thank you so much. Happy Mother’s Day to everyone.
Jo
My husband and three women in my life were all battling cancer at the same time. Talk about overwhelming! But God is patiently showing me that I need to let go and just remember who He is 🙂 Praise God my husband is now in remission, and one friend is cancer free, and the other two are in the home stretch.
It’s good to see someone thkniing it through.
You’ve got it in one. Couldn’t have put it better.
“85% körüli készültségi állapotú tengeralattjárót az admirális elmondása szerint a Szevmash mégiscsak befejezheti,”Akkor ezzel kb 8db nÅ‘ az Oscar 2 osztályú tengók száma?Ez Ãgy igen komoly ütÅ‘erÅ‘t jelent majd .Tetszik / Egyetértek: 2 Az értékeléshez be kell
I agree with you completely, and that is the way I describe the term cisgender as well, but lately there have been several people who have expressed offense about it. A few have been extremely public and gotten attention for that objection, with MANY other non-transgender people saying they find the term offensive because there should be no word for being normal.I wish they were as sensible as you.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012 at 6:24 pm it'd be a tie between classic black or raspberry in the O.G. but if i could win one then totally raspberry. i heart this company and have pinned their bags on my Pinterest long ago!
Would love to win this. I found out this week that my mother has stage 4 liver cancer and cancer in her breast and lymph nodes.
What a beautiful post – to know that God is not worried, why should we. This would be an awesome gift.
Happy Mother’s Day everyone!!
Worry is my middle name! I shouldn’t worry about anything because in my mind I have the worst situation figured out before anything bad even happens. I hate living this way and try to give it to God every day. I am always looking for something to read to help with this area. Winning this would help so much!
Thank you so much for sharing…my pastor says “about 80% of what you are worrying about, will never happen”, and it is so true, but we get paralyzed by fear, by “what ifs’. I love thinking about the fact that God is not worried, and since he is the one who know how it all turns out; we shouldn’t be either.
WOW …..yes!!! I mean WOW… would LOVE to win this!!!
Peercft answer! That really gets to the heart of it!
Thank you Renee for these words. So thought provoking and encouraging. I find myself looking at my kids (tween & teen) with envy at their simple lives. We have intentionally tried to keep their lives from getting overly busy. We have always only allowed one activity at a time (and thankfully neither were interested in traveling sports), so their day to day life isn’t constant go go go. I on the other hand, have not done a great job at keeping my life simple. My life is go go go, I have been praying about ways to simplify, rest, and have more quiet time with God. Thank you for your reminders.
I have always heard that God doesn’t give us anymore than we can handle. Lately I feel like he thinks I am some kind of badass. I am tired but keep holding on to doing it all myself. Always thinking I should just give it to God he isn’t worried about me or my family. So worried about my 14y.o. son lately and asking God to take over for me. Reading this today I am hoping (fingers crossed) that I am able to sleep soundly and try and not worry. Thank you for the encouraging words.
I had asked God to help me face my fears and I face them in my dreams, as you spoke of, also. I asked God to help me praise Him even in my dreams in the face of my fears.
He answered my prayers.
God is faithful ALL the time. With real fears or imagined ones.
I feel your pain! Spiders and snakes make me squirm too! I love how you were able to overcome your fear by working at the Nature Center and of course relying on God. I would love to win a copy of Pressing Pause. I’ve had my eye on it for a while now 🙂
Thank You Renee! As always you are an inspiration! Blessings & Peace!