Fear not, He Strengthens

Hey y’all, its been a while. It’s a new month and I have something for us and it’s more of a testimony and word of encouragement for someone out there today.

So February was a really hard month for me, I struggled in ways I haven’t really struggled in a while. I was down physically, emotionally and sadly spiritually as well.

Before I lay it all down, I’ll give a short history of what exactly happened. I fell sick and it felt terrible. I wanted to have faith and pray and just be all right. But it didn’t seem to be that easy, I wondered if I was praying right or praying enough. But what I thought would be relieved by a day or two of rest, became two weeks of necessary rest and antibiotics. The Doctor person said I had Bronchiolitis, but I think I had Laryngitis- basically inflammation of the voice box due to an infection (in case you want to know). And it’s really not that serious, just caught it late.

Great, now that we have that history set, let’s get to it.

I have been ill before, felt worse physically, but managed to actually be strong about it. But something about this experience didn’t quite go through the normal pattern, a new, unwelcome variable was introduced, fear.

I did what a lot of us do when faced with a storm, I panicked. I began to think about all the times I have fallen sick in my life and exaggerated every single occasion. I pondered on it and rather than remember the victory from those battles, I was focused on the fact that I had battles in the first place. I decided there was a problem with me, rather than remember that I have the victory in Christ, now and forever more.

When David faced Goliath (1 Samuel 17), he did something similar to what I did. He recollected his past battles, but he didn’t remember them so he could weep over how unfortunate he was to be attacked by animals and now a giant. He recollected them to remind himself that His help cometh from the same God who delivered him from those things of the past (1 Samuel 17:37).

When faced with trials and tribulations, we can either set our eyes on the problems and make them our focus, or remember the one who said He will strengthen us (Isaiah 41:10) and the numerous times He has given us victory, like David did.

As I began to renew my mind during this season, an opportunity came for me to manifest this strength that I have in Christ. Due to the location of the inflammation (and a very serious cough to go with it), I lost my voice, both talking and singing. And this is not like those times I say I’ve lost my voice but still manage to sound like Celine Dion when I sing (I wish, 😂 allow me please). This time it was bad.

And so a week into my recovery, we had a conference in church and I was meant to lead worship, which I opted out of due to the state of my voice at that time. But as I arrived at my church, I felt this nudge in my spirit to still take it. I’m not going to lie, I didn’t even battle with this decision, because I was so convicted that fear didn’t have a place in my heart. At this point, John 14:27 came into full effect, His peace was with me and as Isaiah 40:29 says, He increases the power of the weak and this was my turning point. I sang like I had never before, physically it hurt afterwards, but I felt strengthened. His power was truly made perfect in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

You may be at the edge right now, wondering why and how you’re going through what you’re going through, it may be a sickness, it may be a work or school thing, it may be family related, but remember His word today and do not let fear direct your recovery. Fear not, trust in the Lord and wait on Him, for they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength (Isaiah 40:31).

As I write this, my strength has been renewed, physically, emotionally and spiritually. It was a battle, but I am victorious because God has gone ahead of me and won every battle I will ever face. And that is the same for you, fear not for He strengthens. No matter what it is, our God is mighty to save!!

I just want to use this opportunity to pray for strength for anyone going through a battle right now, I pray that the mighty hand of God shall come upon you and deliver you. He will send guardian angels to you, like He sent to me in my time of need. The spirit of fear shall no longer have dominion over you. The Lord is your strength and you are victorious.

Have an amazing week.

Itohan Osayi ❤️