I AM: Strong and Stable

Originally part of Ashley BreAnne's Blog, written July 2, 2017.

My friend and I were in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, preparing the back room of the preschool, when we suddenly noticed that everyone else had left. It was time for us to join our group for dinner in another building, so we gathered our belongings and set off to walk a block to meet them. For those unfamiliar, the Tenderloin is an area in downtown San Francisco, and the block we're on has one of the highest rates of violence and drug activity in the city. This 'walk' is far from a leisurely stroll; two young women shouldn't be walking alone. The building we're heading to shares a wall with a strip club. The streets are filled with people in distress and the unavoidable odor of feces. If you listen carefully, you can hear the locals whistling to warn their peers about the police. As we quickly locked the preschool door to begin our journey, we heard someone shouting.

“Hey, hey! Hey, you.” Oh no.. my heart starts racing and my walk quickens. I turn to my friend as we both seem to acknowledge that we might be dying (okay, I can be a little dramatic, but that's how I felt). The man continues to follow us and call out for us to wait for him. As our speed increases, so does his, and soon I am full-blown running. Like whoa, didn't know I could even run that quickly.  I finally made it to the door. I feel peace as I made it to safety.

I turn to my friend to begin celebrating, but... my friend has disappeared. And so has the man. Oh my gosh. I left her alone, and he took her, I thought. I am the worst person ever; I was so frightened that I didn't even consider her. So I start running back to where I last saw her, calling her name with tear-filled eyes, and then I see it. She is standing in a small alley. She was alive, praise Jesus.

Fear. It is a big deal and can cause us to do some crazy things. Fear heightens our emotions as rational and logical thinking are quickly thrown out the window. What if instead of always running from our problems, we just took a deep breath? I mean, the creator of the universe is inside me! He says that I am strong and stable. He says that nothing will harm me, that I will not be moved! Because He is with us, we no longer need to run in fear, but we can have peace knowing that we are strong and stable. This kind of mentality allows us to stand firm despite scary circumstances. We must know who we are in Christ Jesus so that we can live the life of peace that He so desperately desires.

Verses to look at when you need to remember you are strong and stable:

Luke 10:19:

“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm you”

Isaiah 54:17:

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgement you shall condemn” 

Psalm 46:5:

“God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns 

2 Corinthians 12:9:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in your weakness.”

Those are some powerful verses from a powerful God. My prayer for you this week is that you would stand strong, for the ONE who is in you is mighty. When fear comes your way, remember who is in you and what power He has given you!

YOU ARE

     Strong and Stable

#Strong #Stable