On January 1st I sat down with the Holy Spirit, and thinking of all the amazing things that God did for us in the year prior I asked him what this 2025 year would hold and what we should be expectant for. I waited with excitement at what He would be doing next. I wasn’t prepared for what I heard.
“Turbulence.”
I sat there for a moment not really knowing how to respond but I remember thinking, “That’s not nice. I must have heard wrong.” But I knew I hadn’t heard wrong. Could I pretend I didn’t hear it? Oh, why do I always have to ask questions? I don’t want turbulence. Can I ask to trade this for a different word?
Sometimes we have this perspective that we should never have to face difficult times because we have Jesus, and everything should just be good all the time. We walk in victory so we should never have to battle anything. But wait. Can you really have a victory if you don’t ever have a battle? We can’t be overcomers if there is no challenge to overcome. James 1:2-4 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” He says when you fall into various trials, not if. And it is the work of patience that is produced in times of trials that makes us complete, lacking nothing. So, if we want to be complete and lacking nothing, we are going to have to face some trials. But you know what? God is still with us, right in the midst of every trial.
As I tried to decide how I felt about the word “turbulence”, the Holy Spirit followed it up with,
“But you’re safe with Me.”
Well now, there is a promise I can grab a hold of! He immediately brought to mind a verse that He had been putting in front of me for the last several weeks: Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God.” He had already given me the promise before I ever even asked the question. He had already started assuring me weeks prior through this verse that I would have nothing to fear. He is so faithful to prepare us and equip us for what we will need. And I knew this verse was going to be my battle verse for the year.
As the year got going, I saw right away that this word turbulence wasn’t just for me. This would be a year of turbulence for many. I have personally known of a whole handful of deaths that have occurred just in the first 3 months of the year. That is more than I have known over the last 3 years combined. I am constantly confronted with the news of someone else receiving a diagnosis of a terminal illness, an unknown medical mystery, or experiencing a traumatic and life-altering event. More and more I see the need for those all around me to have the comfort and security of knowing Jesus is with them. Wanting to make sure that my feet were firmly planted in my battle verse for whatever lie ahead on my own path I started doing a little digging into the scripture the Holy Spirit had given to me. “Be still and know that I am God.”
Release. Let Go
I like to do word studies. Words are one of our biggest forms of communication and often, because of the multiple meanings of words, we can miss so much of what is intended if we don’t do a little more digging. I find this to be especially true of the Bible because of the multiple translations. For example, when I look at the Hebrew word that was used in the original text for “Be still”, I find the word “raphah” (raw-faw) which means “release” or “let go”. I don’t know about you, but that shifts my understanding from a picture of me sitting silently in wait for something to change, to me handing something over to God and trusting Him with it.
Let’s look at the word “turbulence.” I haven’t been on a plane in about 20 years but what I remember about turbulence in that setting is that it is bumpy, uncomfortable, unpredictable, and it sounds and feels worse than it probably is. The basic definition of the word is this: A state of confusion without any order; strong, uneven current in air or water. Air and water to me are symbolic of the spirit realm. When I read this, I think of a strong, uneven current in the spirit causing a state of confusion and disorder in the natural. Look around you, would you say that describes the world you are living in this year? It certainly does for me and everyone in my day-to-day arena. So, we have a heads-up that this year is going to be a year of confusion, lack of order, chaos. Uncomfortable, bumpy, unstable, unpredictable. We also have a promise that with God we are safe. But we must let go and know who He is if we want to get through it without fear.
What does it mean to “let go”?
If I am in a plane and the pilot has already warned me of some turbulence up ahead, does it accomplish anything for me to grab hold of the person’s arm next to me? Or to bury my head in my lap and scream? It won’t stop what I am about to face, I still have to fly through it. It won’t change the level of strength or the distance of turbulence I will have to endure. I have no escape; I’m stuck on that plane. And whatever the plane is going to go through, I’ve got to go through. What it will do, however, is communicate to my whole being that catastrophe is at hand. Then I open the door to thoughts like, “what if the plane gets damaged? What if the plane goes down? How will I protect myself? What about those I will leave behind?” Those are projected thoughts that come from fear, expectation of something negative to happen and the need to prepare for the worst. I might start to feel my heart beating faster, my breath getting shorter, my vision might start closing in, I might start getting lightheaded or dizzy. Panic. Anxiety. Fear. Thoughts that come from fear (a spirit of Fear that is) are sent to torment us and tempt us into not trusting God.
But what if I just looked out the window and enjoyed the view? What if I just put my ear buds in, turn my music up loud and just start praising the Lord? What if I get myself immersed in the Bible, a good Psalm perhaps? What if I chose to just trust the pilot who is flying the plane, who already warned me that there was turbulence up ahead? Doubtful that this is their first experience. What if I closed my eyes and just got close to God for a moment and began to thank Him for all the times He has rescued me and pulled me out of whatever mess I got myself into? What if I just recognized that He is bigger than the plane, bigger than the wind, bigger than the chaos and the disorder and the tension and the noise and my whole life is in His hands? What if, since there is nothing about it that I can control anyway, I just release everything into His hands? Peace. Trust. Faith.
Think of when Jesus calms the storm. When He and the disciples got into the boat He said, “let us cross over to the other side.” (Luke 8:22). Jesus was able to be at peace in the boat during the storm because He knew He had an assignment to fulfill on the other side. He didn’t let the turbulence of the wind and rain, and the chaos of the raging sea distract Him from where He was going or what He was going to do when He got there. He stood firm in His faith.
Think about when Peter got out of the boat to walk on water to meet Jesus. Matthew 14:30-31 says, “But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord save me!’ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'” Peter let the turbulence of the wind distract him from where he was going. He took His eyes off of Jesus and put His focus on the storm, and he gave in to fear.
Know that I am God
That word “know” is the Hebrew word “Yada” (yaw-dah) which means “to properly ascertain by seeing”. Other words include perceive, understand, consider, declare, discern, recognize, observe, comprehend, discover. To me, to know something is to be absolutely convinced that it’s true. No doubt. I cannot be persuaded away from it. For example, I know what color my eyes are. If someone tries to tell me my eyes are blue, I will say they are color blind. I wouldn’t even have to go to a mirror and check. I have seen my eyes; I see them every day. And I know that they are unchanging. I have also seen God. I see Him every day and I know that God is unchanging. Malachi 3:6 even says, “I am the LORD, I do not change.”
Sometimes our view of God is a bit skewed. We can think that He is so big that He is too big to be near to us, too big for our problems, too big to really know what we are dealing with. Too big to really care. But I can assure you, He cares deeply.
Other times we can know God as close and personal, but we forget that He is also GOD ALMIGHTY. Powerful, mighty, wonderous, wise, and zealous for us. We think that our trials contain enemies that are bigger than the God who is our friend and we forget that He is our defender. He fights for us, and He has an army of angels that goes to battle for us. He makes Himself a protective shield around us and puts our enemies under our feet.
He is either big and distant, or close and small. In either case, we do not see Him rightly. But the scripture says it is in the knowing that He is GOD that is to be the foundation of our faith that carries us through turbulent times. We can let go because He is God. If we read Psalm 46 in its entirety it tells us exactly how we are to view God:
God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. (Verse 1)
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. (Verse 5)
He uttered His voice, the earth melted. (Verse 6)
The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. (Verse 7 and 11)
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire. (Verse 9)
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! (Verse 10)
Well, I’m halfway through the year and just like He said, there has been a lot of turbulence. It has been confusing, chaotic, and unpredictable. I told my husband one day it felt like the accumulation of circumstances surrounding me had been strategically put together just to test me. He said, “No, to build you up.” I like that. And also true to His promise, He has kept me safe. He is God. He is MY God. And as I have let go and released into His hands the things I cannot control, He has carried me through the turbulence. And in the midst of the raging storms, I have had peace, and joy, and fullness of life. I heard Him say to me one day, “Find the treasure in the trial.” So, I started looking for the treasure in each trial as it came. I discovered that it is in those times when I allowed myself to be led, protected, and covered that I got to see just how close and big God really is.
“But in the depts of my heart I truly know that you, YAHWEH, have become my Shield; You take me and surround me with yourself. Your glory covers me continually. You lift high my head. I have cried out to you, YAHWEH, from your holy presence. You send me a Father’s help. So now I’ll lie down and sleep like a baby – then I’ll awake in safety, for you surround me with your glory. Even though ten thousand dark powers prowl around me, I won’t be afraid. Rise up and help me, YAHWEH! Come and save me, God! For you will slap them in the face, breaking the power of their words to harm me. For the Lord alone is my Savior. What a feast of favor and bliss He gives His people!” -Psalm 3:3-8 TPT
