The Confidence We Have | 08.08.12

This past Saturday, the following Facebook status I posted seemed to garner a good bit of attention:

"Elton Taylor believes the very best thing to do whenever you feel overwhelmed is to ASCEND IN WORSHIP. Worrying solves nothing. Emotional reactions change nothing. They only make YOU worse off... But when you elevate your mind above the circumstances and begin to magnify the LORD your GOD, something happens... YOU change! Your perspective, your response, your attitude ALL change because NOW you're looking at those same circumstances from a totally different angle than before. You being able to get past how you feel and call for an uprising of GOD's glory without musicians, a worship team or pastor is what keeps you together AWAY FROM THE PHYSICAL SANCTUARY. #TrustMe #YourSanityDependsOnIt"

What I didn't share on Facebook was that I was speaking from my own experience of what was going on that very day.  I began to feel overwhelmed by things happening around me, and it became more evident as my mind began to race with thoughts of "What if?," "How will I?" and the such.  The hovering presence of worry was attempting to set in, and then I remembered something: "I don't have to feel this way!"  I can't tell you how many times I've said, "The joy of the LORD is my strength," "In His presence there is fullness of joy," and "Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the LORD delivers them out of them all."  BUT THIS TIME, I had to do more than just SAY it...  I had to BECOME it.  Those words had to COME to BE...IN ME.

I stopped what I was doing, shifted my focus away from what had my attention and immediately began to magnify the GOD of my salvation ABOVE the circumstances being faced.  Instead of worrying, I acknowledged to my Heavenely Father that I needed help.  And since I couldn't handle the situation on my own, I determined that I wasn't going to worry over what I couldn't do.  I made up in my mind that I will rejoice and be glad NOW.  You see, I couldn't wait until Sunday morning for my breakthrough because I was the one on deck to lead worship.  My pastors were depending on me to handle the King's business, so dropping the ball because I was too overwhelmed with my own problems WAS NOT an option.  Therefore, I had to decide that either GOD can handle this situation or He can't.  I knew I couldn't; otherwise, anxiety wouldn't have tried to attack me.  But I also had to know and be clear about the fact that it was GOD who promised to keep me, and it was crucial for my own sanity that my faith make a demand on that promise NOW.  So I cried out to GOD and He heard me.  I began to bless (i.e. speak well of) the LORD and brag on His goodness to me in times past.  And then it happened... Peace flooded my soul.  In the midst of the worship I alone offered in the privacy of my own residence, I knew that THIS SITUATION was being handled by my Daddy and there was no further need for me to be concerned with it.

"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." 
--1 John 5:14-15