{"id":652,"date":"2012-04-15T18:09:23","date_gmt":"2012-04-15T18:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ultimatejoy.wordpress.com\/?p=652"},"modified":"2012-04-15T18:09:23","modified_gmt":"2012-04-15T18:09:23","slug":"hope-rises-at-245am","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/?p=652","title":{"rendered":"Hope Rises at 2:45AM"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>On a scale of one to ten, this nightmare rated a fifteen.\u00a0 Overcome by outlandish fear, I jumped out of bed at 2:45AM. My chest heaved because my lungs couldn\u2019t suck in air fast enough. My skin burnt as though it had been seared and my head pounded in rhythm with the jackhammer that was pulverizing it. The intense terror beating in my heart chilled as if, before I was dead, I had viewed my grave from the inside out.<\/p>\n

This season in my life has been a growing period, and growth brings with it certain pressures. In my heart, I know there are areas I need to change, but somehow lack the resolve. There are also tons of good habits I need to start. When the futility of attacking these areas with my own strength sets in, that\u2019s when the nightmares begin.<\/p>\n

Thank goodness for God\u2019s love letter to us. 2 Corinthians 1:5 states, \u201cFor just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also is our comfort abundant in Christ.\u201d Comfort, that\u2019s precisely what I needed! And it astonished me how easy God made it for me. After all, 2:45AM isn\u2019t the time to be calling up caring friends. My limited choices compelled me into finding respite in Him, my Savior.<\/p>\n

In those early morning \u201cI\u2019m afraid\u201d sessions we all have, I\u2019ve conditioned myself not to drink the poison of rejection, doubt and fear. If left untreated, they will only permeate and destroy.<\/p>\n

Instead I embrace the hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ. No matter how uncertain life is, God is still God. He is always sovereign. And though I don\u2019t often understand His ways, I trust Him.<\/p>\n

Not just for my salvation, but for those times when I\u2019m tempted to believe my doubts, for the times when Satan\u2019s lies attack my heart and my mind.\u00a0 He is the master deceiver and his lies are often so appealing that we believe them rather than trusting God.<\/p>\n

During my disturbed night, I trace my heritage. I\u2019m a princess; I am the daughter of the Most High God. And as I lay back down to sleep, He whispers softly, gently into my ear, \u201cI am crafting a story in You that You have yet to grasp. \u00a0It will highlight your uniqueness; reveal the strengths you don\u2019t even know you have. Your story will reflect who you really are and your purpose. There will be no stopping you for I now live in you. I\u2019ve got bigger plans for you than you can even imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow come,\u201d He gently sighs, \u201csnuggle deeply into my soothing arms.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does God whisper to you during the times you are afraid?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a scale of one to ten, this nightmare rated a fifteen.\u00a0 Overcome by outlandish fear, I jumped out of bed at 2:45AM. My chest heaved because my lungs couldn\u2019t suck in air fast enough. My skin burnt as though it had been seared and my head pounded in rhythm with the jackhammer that was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,4,5],"tags":[13,48,23,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myrawells.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}