Refuge of Grace

Good morning, anxiety. I feel you spiking each time I think of one more thing to do. You pound me, driving me further into the ground. You take my breath away, making it hard to breathe.

Good morning, God. I blink trying to take in the beauty around me and fight away the stabbing anxiety. My eyes slowly focus on the soft blush pinks and purples of summer flowers and the stretched cotton ball clouds sprinkled like lily-pads in the light blue sky. My ears awaken to chirping birds serenading the dew-laden grass blades and a cricket’s chirp ushering in the morning. Psalm 119:114 tells me You are my shelter and my shield. I close my eyes and Your shelter surrounds me. The anxiety dulls, like I see it through a window, from within Your shelter—protected. I am no longer alone fighting through this, but You are with me, covering me with Your shelter and shield.

Breathe in His goodness. The anxiety might not be gone, but we know it won’t overtake us, not with God’s majestic shelter and shield protecting us.