What to Do When Life Spirals Out of Control

NOTES: I am sharing an article written by my friend Margaret Feinberg who is a gifted author.  She and her husband Leif have been friends of The Community Fellowship for several years, and Margaret is currently battling breast cancer.  As you read I ask that you pray for her healing, and please consider sharing this with those who don’t normally read my blog.  Also go look around her website and blog at http://margaretfeinberg.com.

What to Do When Life Spirals Out of Control

By Margaret Feinberg (http://margaretfeinberg.com)

My four-pound superpup, Hershey brings so much joy to my life.  Even with his small size, he certainly packs a powerful punch in the ways God uses him in my life.

I think back to a few years ago when Leif and I met him for the first time.

Tiny.  Timid.  Fearful.

As we gently picked him up to take him home for the first time, fear filled his body.  We were taking him from everything he knew and was familiar with—and it showed.

No eye contact.  Tail between the legs.  His tiny body trembling.

The whole drive we tried to offer comfort.  We stroked his soft fur.  We held him close.  We kept repeating: Trust me.  You’re going to be okay.  Just trust me, little Hershey.  We’re going to take care of you.  

But he didn’t listen or understand.  Like a horse with blinders, he was only focused on the fear around him, not realizing that we had his best intentions in mind and the fullness of life we were offering him.

A God-thought filled my head.  You do this, too.

I recognized God’s gentle whisper.

In the midst of change, I, too, fidget in fear.  I try to hold tight to anything familiar.  Blinded by fear, I am only focused on what could go wrong.  I quake in my boots when all along God is whispering to me:

Trust me.  I’ve got this all under control.  Don’t be afraid my beloved.  Don’t worry my child.  Just trust.

Like Hershey, I find myself in situations where the ground is taken out from under me.  Life begins to spiral out of control.  I swing my arms frantically as I find anything to hold on to.

When all along God is whispering, Trust me. I’ve got this. 

This is true not just in the adversity I'm facing, but whatever adversity you're facing, too.

Psalm 7:1 NIV

Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me,

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 30:5  NIV

Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.