A profession missionary, fulltime sailboat dweller, and grandma to 14 treasured littles, Grace Fox evokes hope, braveness, and transformation by way of God’s Phrase in audiences across the globe. Her newest guide, Names of God: Dwelling Unafraid, invitations readers right into a religion journey destined for freedom from worry. It’s a pleasure to welcome Grace to the farm’s entrance porch at this time.
Visitor Put up by Grace Fox
Breakfast had simply begun at a convention I used to be attending close to Budapest, Hungary, when the occasion host approached me, cellular phone in hand. His expression stated all of it.
“It’s your husband,” he remarked as he handed me the cellphone. My coronary heart knew what Gene was going to say.
Just lately my dad’s well being had declined after he suffered two large strokes. Once I flew to Alberta to go to him throughout that point, I confronted a most troublesome determination. A number of months earlier, I’d agreed to a talking tour in Jap Europe, and my departure was solely days away.
A convention in Hungary for missionary households was my first scheduled cease, and afterward I deliberate to remain for 2 days with Diane, an American coworker residing in Slovakia. She would then accompany me by practice to meet almost a dozen talking engagements in Poland and Hungary.
Diane had spent hours coordinating these occasions and arranging lodging. I had bought my aircraft ticket to Budapest, ready my messages, and despatched out handouts for translation. The ladies’s ministry leaders in every metropolis had dealt with ads and registrations, pouring their finest efforts into the main points.
Canceling the journey appeared unfair to everybody concerned abroad, however what if I made the journey and Dad died earlier than I returned? But not being current to rejoice his life and assist my mother didn’t appear proper both.
After praying for steering and discussing my considerations with my household, I sensed God telling me to meet my dedication abroad. I stated goodbye to my father, returned residence to pack my suitcase, and cried all the best way to the airport. Twelve hours after I landed in Budapest, my dad took his final breath, and Gene phoned to interrupt the unhappy information.
My worst fears had come true: Dad was gone, and my mom, siblings, husband, and youngsters would rejoice his life with out me.
I felt unusually alone in a surreal scenario. It was no small ordeal to journey by practice in another country, educate the Phrase and pray with ladies at every occasion, go to missionaries of their houses, and sleep in a unique mattress each evening … all whereas grieving my father’s loss of life.
Looking back, I don’t even know the way I managed to maintain it collectively emotionally and mentally. There was just one rationalization: Yahweh Shammah was with me. His compassion comforted me. His fingers carried me. His power empowered me. His presence made all of the distinction.
As painful as my scenario was, it supplied a treasured alternative to expertise God by his identify Yahweh Shammah (pronounced “SHAHM-mah”), which in Hebrew means “The Lord Is There” (Ezekiel 48:35 NLT).
I really like that the that means of Yahweh Shammah is current tense: “The Lord Is There.” It’s not “The Lord Was There,” for that might point out that his presence has gone away, and nowhere does the Bible say that God checked out after communing with Adam and Eve within the backyard of Eden, talking with Moses on the mountain, defending Daniel’s buddies within the fiery furnace, or sitting in jail with Paul and Silas and Joseph too.
“God confirmed up for his individuals in ages previous, and he does the identical for us at this time. He’s alive and nicely and with us in every single place we go.”
Quite the opposite, God confirmed up for his individuals in ages previous, and he does the identical for us at this time. He’s alive and nicely and with us in every single place we go: The tune lyric that speaks to your coronary heart at exactly the precise second? That’s God’s presence in disguise. The whispered steering you hear when dealing with a significant determination? The identical. The dawn is his cheery hiya, and the sundown splashed throughout the sky is his goodnight kiss.
Once we search for God’s presence, it’s unavoidable. King David described it this manner: “I can by no means escape out of your Spirit! I can by no means get away out of your presence! If I am going as much as heaven, you might be there; if I am going all the way down to the grave, you might be there. If I trip the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will information me, and your power will assist me” (Psalm 139:7–10 nlt).
Fortunately, neither does the identify Yahweh Shammah imply “The Lord Will Be There,” for that will indicate he’s in any other case occupied and places our requires assistance on maintain—or that he’s absent and utterly indifferent from us now however will seem sometime sooner or later to dedicate himself to us then.
That stated, a big day does await after we will expertise Yahweh Shammah on a degree a lot totally different from the current.
As followers of Jesus, we maintain quick to the hope of heaven as our future actuality, as a result of we consider that every one who place their religion in Jesus for salvation will spend eternity with him there (John 3:16; 14:1–3).
What a day that might be when Revelation 21:3 involves go: “I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, ‘Look, God’s house is now amongst his individuals! He’ll reside with them, and they are going to be his individuals. God himself might be with them’” (nlt).
Within the meantime, we reside within the current with its celebrations and sorrows. Some days convey laughter, and a few convey tears: We pray till our knees put on out, and nonetheless the solutions don’t come.
We get into bother making an attempt to repair individuals or conditions past our management. The worry of failure retains us awake at evening. The worry of somebody exposing our secret habit or disgrace prevents us from growing deep and significant relationships.
Our insecurities drive a wedge between us and people we love.
These points and extra show our want for God’s ever-present assist at this time. Hour by hour. This very second.
Thank goodness The Lord Is There for us after we want him most, as a result of he’s Yahweh Shammah—a present-tense God.
Grace and her husband, Gene (a.okay.a. “Sailor-Man”), reside fulltime in a marina close to Vancouver, British Columbia, and co-direct Worldwide Messengers Canada, a missionary-sending company with workers in 30 nations. She has written 14 books, is a member of the First 5 writing crew (Proverbs 31 Ministries) and co-hosts the podcast “Your Every day Bible Verse.” She loves fulfilling her God-given assignments, however she additionally finds nice pleasure in snuggling along with her grandchildren, rising early to sip espresso and skim her Bible, taking lengthy walks whereas listening to worship music, and sharing home-baked apple pies and cinnamon rolls along with her neighbors.
In her new guide, Names of God: Dwelling Unafraid, Grace shares truthfully about her religion journey from worry to freedom. She “will get” that the world is an more and more scary place and the longer term is unsure. She understands how one’s life will be altered in a heartbeat. Reasonably than specializing in the what-ifs and negatives that may paralyze us with worry, she reveals how the that means of seven of God’s names helps set us free. Every session contains biblical and real-life examples that illustrate the facility of God’s names; a guided prayer; reflection questions; and video entry to extra creator insights. Preferrred for particular person and teams, this heartfelt devotional research will draw you nearer to God and bolster your braveness to reside unafraid.
Subscribe to Grace’s inspirational updates and obtain printable prayers based mostly on the seven names of God in her guide.
{Our humble due to Aspire Press for his or her partnership in at this time’s devotional.}
