Yesterday I had the honor and privilege of giving my testimony to the all-girls evangelism class at my school. It is about 400 girls and they are primarily freshman. And I am not sure why but I was SO nervous about it! It wasn’t my first time speaking, it wasn’t my first time in front of a large group of people, and normally I do not get nervous! But maybe it was the fact I was at my own school in front of my own people, even though I didn’t actually know any of the students. Regardless of what made me so nervous, I was.
When my dear professor asked me to do it I immediately said yes because I felt God pushing me to it. But afterwards I was like, “What did I just get myself into?!?”
The night before I was really asking God to take my fear away. I thought, “Who in the Bible was also afraid to speak?” Right away Moses came to mind. So I flipped my Bible opened to Exodus 3 where God appears to Moses in a burning bush and tells him to go and speak to Pharaoh. Moses’ immediate response is, “But who I am…?!?” And God comes right back at Him with, “But I will be with you…”
Wow.
It was like God was speaking directly to me. But in my head it was spoken as more of a question.
“But, Mary Kate, I will be with you?”
Like He didn’t understand why I would even doubt Him.
And you know what? He doesn’t understand.
This was something I learned last year and my friend Rachel brought it up in Bible study last week:
“God will never, EVER, understand us not trusting Him.”
Now He does understand that we go through hard times…
Hebrews 4:15 says “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are– yet he did not sin.”
Jesus gets what we are going through. He knows that we live in a fallen world and understands that we are going through hard things and we are facing trials and we are tempted by things, but He will never say, “Oh I know it’s scary and I know its hard, so I totally get it if you don’t want to trust me on this one!!”
No, He doesn’t understand because He knows He is bigger, stronger, mightier than that thing we are facing.
God is with us. He is ALWAYS with us.
This summer I read a book called, “Fervent” (incredible, change-your-life kinda book, by Priscilla Shirer…everyone go get it today) and it changed my whole prayer life. Used to my prayers would be like “God please be with me as I do this” or “God, please be with ______ as they go through that hard time.” But the truth of the matter is, God is always with us…we don’t have to ask Him. So now my prayers are “God, please help me to keep in constant focus the truth and reality that You are always with me”, or “God, help them to realize that you are always right by their side and have already fitted them with everything they need to fight off the blows of the enemy.”
Earlier this week I posted on my Instagram about going out on a limb. I started to realize the only thing that was holding me back from things was fear. I had to take a look at myself and see what my fears were rooted in…
Was I afraid of what people would think?
Was I afraid of failing?
Did I think I was just inadequate?
But everything starts to change when we shift our focus on God and say to Him, “I know You are with me and I have nothing to be afraid of.”
Psalm 27:1 “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; whom shall I be afraid?”
This was written so perfectly & hit directly to my heart. Thank you for taking the time to write this & being obedient to God. You are a world changer!!
Thank you for sharing this encouraging word! My husband and I are the youth pastors at our church and so I've spoken to our kids many times on my testimony. I've been asked to share it in front of our church and it made me so nervous, so thsnk you for this encouragement.
This is amazing! I came to Korea with a scholarship from the government as a promise from God and my two months here have made me pray a lot for God to be with me in every situation and there wew many times that I questioned Him. I am still hesitant in everything I do and the decisions I have to make but I am sure He is with me♡ this ia my forst time reading your blog and I love it!! Have a blessed day!
Awesome message. Thanks for sharing! I wrote down those two ways of praying for myself and people! I seem to always get caught up asking him to be there for people… When he never leaves our side! ❤️ This is really powerful, because without fear & with Gods strength nothing can stop us����
Awesome message. Thanks for sharing! I wrote down those two ways of praying for myself and people! I seem to always get caught up asking him to be there for people… When he never leaves our side! ❤️ This is really powerful, because without fear & with Gods strength nothing can stop us����
You are so wise and adorable and I'm more than twice your age, but still you encourage and inspire me to dig a little deeper when it comes to fear. I jotted down the prayer because I love the way it focuses on the truth of who God is. Wishing you blessings out on that limb!
Love this! Remembering that God will be with me is something I am trying to remember when I get nervous. I am a student leader at our church so I am learning about leading and doing public speaking (which makes me nervous) but just remembering that He is with me changes everything! Thanks for reminding me that He is always with me!
I absolutely love this! I never thought of “I will be with you” as a question and that we have no reason to ask Him to be with us, because He is! I love all of your Godly posts; your blog is what inspired me to start a blog!
Absolutely lovely! Ferverant is a well worn book at my house. A must read!
This was written so perfectly & hit directly to my heart. Thank you for taking the time to write this & being obedient to God. You are a world changer!!
Boom! Mic drop! God is so beautiful and I am so happy that He shares you with the world.
Thank you for sharing this encouraging word! My husband and I are the youth pastors at our church and so I've spoken to our kids many times on my testimony. I've been asked to share it in front of our church and it made me so nervous, so thsnk you for this encouragement.
This is amazing! I came to Korea with a scholarship from the government as a promise from God and my two months here have made me pray a lot for God to be with me in every situation and there wew many times that I questioned Him. I am still hesitant in everything I do and the decisions I have to make but I am sure He is with me♡ this ia my forst time reading your blog and I love it!! Have a blessed day!
Awesome message. Thanks for sharing! I wrote down those two ways of praying for myself and people! I seem to always get caught up asking him to be there for people… When he never leaves our side! ❤️ This is really powerful, because without fear & with Gods strength nothing can stop us����
Awesome message. Thanks for sharing! I wrote down those two ways of praying for myself and people! I seem to always get caught up asking him to be there for people… When he never leaves our side! ❤️ This is really powerful, because without fear & with Gods strength nothing can stop us����
LOVED THIS!!!! Just what I needed today??
wow that was so encouraging for me to read!! thanks so much for sharing <3
I am so touched and you are such an amazing blogger and reading all of your inspirational post has built a stronger relationship with God and I
You are so wise and adorable and I'm more than twice your age, but still you encourage and inspire me to dig a little deeper when it comes to fear. I jotted down the prayer because I love the way it focuses on the truth of who God is. Wishing you blessings out on that limb!
can you do a picture tour of your house in VA? I'd love to see how you decorated it. I love your style!! I'll see you in Birmingham 10/15!
SO good. So much truth! I absolutely love your blog posts, thanks for sharing your heart. 🙂
Love this! Remembering that God will be with me is something I am trying to remember when I get nervous. I am a student leader at our church so I am learning about leading and doing public speaking (which makes me nervous) but just remembering that He is with me changes everything! Thanks for reminding me that He is always with me!
God is always with us and that is something I need to be constantly reminded of! Thank you so much for sharing what God has been teaching you! <3
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So touching <3
I didn’t know what I needed to hear today going into today, but this was it.
Neeed this, so powerful
I absolutely love this! I never thought of “I will be with you” as a question and that we have no reason to ask Him to be with us, because He is! I love all of your Godly posts; your blog is what inspired me to start a blog!