I Am & I Will

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

Isaiah 41: 10, 13

I think the first time that I ever read those two verses was the day of my very first job interview. I was 15 years old, didn't know what to expect, and I was terrified. I can remember reading them in my Bible that morning and feeling so excited because I realized that the Lord saw my need for His help and strength. He directly spoke to me through His Word and promised me that that was exactly what He would give me for my interview. I hid that verse in my heart that day, and just very recently, God pulled it out of the place that it had been tucked away in for so long, and made the promise of that scripture very real and personal to me once again. 

A few weeks ago, I had "one of those days." Emotions were running high, feelings of insecurity and anxiousness were rising up in my heart, and I just felt physically and emotionally spent. Sounds like I was pretty pleasant to be around, right? ;) I had just come back from visiting my family in Kansas and was trying to adjust back to my school and work schedule again. I was just...tired. And I felt overwhelmed. And the tears flowed freely right in my office at my desk. That night, I was still feeling stuck in the same emotional slump so I tried to read and pray for awhile. The Lord led me to read in Isaiah, and the same verses He used to help me as a 15 year old girl, scared for her first job interview, were the same verses that He used to help me as a 20 year old woman, trying to juggle a busy schedule and understand why I was feeling the way I was feeling. But this time, something different stuck out to me about these verses. 

Seven different times in those two verses, God uses the words, "I Am" & "I will." There are no if's, maybe's, or might's about it. It's a solid promise that I can depend heavily upon. 

In those moments, He gently whispered these truths to my aching heart:

Amie, 
I AM with you when you miss the people that you love most and feel a little lonely. I WILL strengthen you when you get weary while you try to complete the tasks that are before you. I WILL help you with your school classes when they intimidate you, or on those mornings when you feel like you are too tired to get up and go to work. I WILL uphold you when you have those days that you feel like you might fall apart. And I WILL hold your hand and walk with you on these paths I've placed before you. 

Those are promises that I can fully and completely depend upon. He will come through for me, every single time, right on time. His Word IS TRUTH. I repeated that verse to myself over and over again the next day, and I felt His presence with me so strong and real. Meditating on His truths drove away Satan's lies, and I faced the next day with peace in my heart. I can have that peace every day and so can you. 

Just remember, in the middle of your "I'm not" and "I can't" days, Jesus says, "I Am and I will." 

And that's a promise you can depend on.