Something about the change of a year brings us hope. 2021 feels brighter. The first day of the year was an oddly sunny, warm day in Nashville. I can feel my spirit shift and my gaze is set on the fresh, new, shiny year.
In reality, it is just another day in the story that God is writing, but it is a beautiful one.
To start off the new year, I am walking through a study about leaving anxiety behind and remembering God isn’t a God of anxiety, rather He is one of peace.
The verse today was 2 Timothy 1:7: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
Fear and anxiety are crippling.
God is a God that heals and restores the crippled.
In John 5, Jesus goes to where the disabled are — the blind, the lame, the paralyzed, the outcast. And he asks one question to a lame man, “Do you want to get well?”
And He commands the man to get up, take his mat, and walk.
“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”
What’s crippling you today? What’s leaving you paralyzed in fear?
Do you feel like an outcast in your job, friendships or relationships?
Get on your knees and talk with Jesus. Tell Him about your fears. Tell Him about your hopes. Turn it all over to Him. And I have a feeling He might nudge you and ask you to get up and walk. Leave what burdens you behind and walk into freedom, into hope, into the future He has designed with you in mind.
God is not a God of fear. God’s design was perfect but sin left the world broken. It left you and me broken. But this isn’t the story He wants for you.
If today you feel like you don’t have the strength to move, that’s okay but know you don’t have to walk through this alone. Yes, you have Jesus, but you also have people who love and care for you. Don’t be afraid to tell your people what’s crippling you. Vulnerability opens up doors to healing and the opportunity to really be known. And as humans, that’s something we all crave.
Choose hope today. Choose time spent in prayer with your Father who deeply cares for you. Choose hard conversations and friends that point you to Jesus.
And know you are heard. Happy 2021, friend.
xo,
msv
Mary Spencer Veazey 