Sunday, January 24, 2010

Comfort in the Storm

While this post is not about crafting or sewing, I have a strong urge to post it.

This past Tuesday I joined a small group through our church. The leader emailed me the book we would be using and said if I could pick it up and read the 1st 2 chapters before our 1st meeting that would be ideal. The book is Believing God by Beth Moore. I was excited about the title and the author, I can hear her voice, conviction, and excitement when I read her books and can usually visualize myself with her style.

To my surprise late Thursday evening I was notified that my position was part of the most recent reduction in force. Another layoff and this time I didn't survive. I was offered some options most of which included relocating and all of which included a large pay cut. Through the 24 hours of discovering the news and securing a position in the end I felt blessed to obtain a position with out having to relocate.

Now that I survived securing a place of employment the fear of how to make ends meet and how to adjust to my new responsibilities, panic, anxiety and other emotions have reared their ugly head in my constant thoughts.

Today I started reading the book assigned to our small group instead of fast forwarding to the 1st chapter I decided to read every page including the copyright and Dewey decimal classification? Within the Introduction I found this from the author......
"I am convinced that Christ is always the initiator of matters concerning faith. (Heb. 12:2). So if I'm on target, you've neither stumbled onto this book nor accidentally found it in your hands. Christ is initiating a fresh anointing of faith in your life, Dear One." This of course brought me immediate comfort and positive emotions.

My course ahead will be bumpy I know. I know myself well enough that I will have the battle of battles in front of me to control my thoughts of fear. But I'm confident that the author was right "Christ is initiating a fresh anointing of faith in my life". May Lord give me strength to accept yet another precious gift from Him.

4 comments:

~holly said...

you're so right. this is a gift from HIM.

Jennie said...

Excellent post Cassie. Sorry hear about the job situation, but I know that if you let it God will use this season of your life to grow your faith in Him. Something similar happened to me when I was having to make the difficult decision to postpone graduate school and come home from San Antonio. I truly believe that God speaks to us in our time of struggle, if we listen. It may be through a friend, song, or even words in a book. He is always faithful.

alisha said...

You put it all beautifully! Sounds like a book I need to put on my list.

And when you are having a moment of weakness/fear- remember a time in the past when you felt the same, and think about how it worked out in the end. AND- Remember it is most definitely a gift from God!

Danielle said...

Wow, isnt it awesome how we get just what we need in His time. Even though we don't have a clue why things happen the way they do sometimes we can always see God's hand in control at all times. I hope that you find more comfort from reading this book and that you will find new happiness in your position at work. The ladies here that have done Beth Moore study groups have found them hard to get through but very rewarding in the end. As many have said in these hard times, if you have a job you are way ahead of most people right now.
Thanks for sharing from your heart.