This year at the 2020 West Coast Christian Writers Conference, I had the joy and privilege of meeting and making friends with Jennifer Baker. After getting to know Jennifer better, I was intrigued by her concern for others and genuine love for God. Shortly after meeting her, I asked if she would do a devotional for my blog and she graciously accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jennifer Baker is a writer and speaker. She writes devotionals, psalms and poetry. She speaks at Christian retreats, women\u2019s Bible studies and healing ministries, where she shares her story of hope and healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m not sure if you feel it, but there is a lot of fear in the world at this time. It\u2019s an election year and people\u2019s nerves seem to be heightened, there have been numerous natural disasters worldwide and most recently the fear of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fear is a natural reaction when things seem out of control, but it usually makes matters worse. I know this full well because fear is something I\u2019ve struggled with my entire life, and more so lately. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This past year, I decided to make a career change. Well, I should say that God guided me to make this change. I had been burnt out in my career for years, but I was scared of making a change. I had been in the same career for 20 years and worked hard to be successful. So this change was not an easy one for me. When I started interviewing last year, I was looking at many jobs in different fields. After a few months of interviewing, I had 2 job offers to consider. One was in the same industry that I was burnt out from and the other was in a completely new industry. I prayed and asked God for guidance and wisdom in making the right decision and I felt him lead me to the new job in a new industry. Honestly it didn\u2019t make much sense because the other job was offering a lot more money which would have given me more stability and a sense of comfort. But I knew I heard God clearly, so I accepted the other job offer. It\u2019s been 9 months and I can say that it hasn\u2019t been an easy road, but I know God is with me on this journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, I\u2019m in my 50s and I\u2019m starting a new career! That in itself is a lot to take on. It\u2019s also been a huge learning curve where many times I\u2019ve wanted to give up along the way. I\u2019ve struggled with comparing myself to younger colleagues, self doubt and wondering if I made the right decision. But God continues to reassure me that I\u2019m right where I\u2019m meant to be. During one of the hardest times, I heard him tell me, \u201cDon\u2019t give up before the blessing comes.\u201d I have held onto this every time things seem too difficult and He gives me the strength to keep going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through this season, I see how God is making me stronger and is helping me overcome my fears. Feelings of self doubt and failure continue to rear their ugly head at times, but God has shown me how to trust in him and not in myself. He has shown me who is in control and who to run to when the fears come up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Right now we are all seeing the effects of the coronavirus. It\u2019s having a horrible effect on the economy and I see the fear in everyone\u2019s eyes. It\u2019s the fear of the unknown that affects us all. But who will we turn to when we fear? Who is the one we can depend on when the economy suffers and uncertainty grows stronger? We have a choice and we can turn to God. He is sovereign and he is always in control, even when it doesn\u2019t feel this way. He knows what will happen, so we can trust him. Is it scary? Yes, uncertainty is always scary but we have a God who will help us through and calm our nerves. Remember who sits on the throne and remember who is with you always. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Psalm 46:1-2; 10<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGod is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. Be still and know that I am God.\u201d \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you so much for reading! We’d love to hear from you, so comment below and feel free to share this post! My team and I are praying for you, our readers, during this troubling time. We rest in the knowledge that no matter what may come our way, we have ultimate hope and security in our Creator. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This year at the 2020 West Coast Christian Writers Conference, I had the joy and privilege of meeting and making friends with Jennifer Baker. After getting to know Jennifer better, I was intrigued by her concern for others and genuine love for God. Shortly after meeting her, I asked if she would do a devotional … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1166"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1166"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1174,"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1166\/revisions\/1174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lydiacameron.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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