Lamp to My Feet ~ Light to My Path

Some people love adventure, and roaming the earth to have an adventure is done with ease. Home is where my heart is. I love everything about home. I have a Pinterest board with that title.

My family moved a lot when I was a child. I have always had trouble leaving the familiar. I need a plan. Anxiety began to reside in me at a young age. Every move was another traumatic, lonely excursion. It never occurred to me that I could do something about it, and over time, like stubborn weeds grip hard soil, it became part of me. I tried hard not to let it stop me, but I’m sure opportunities were missed.

In the late 90s, my husband and I took two trips to do His work, and while those trips showed us spiritual lostness on a world scale, I battled anxiety on the trips.

Once we returned from the first trip, I absorbed my comfortable life. We were home again. Pride and amazement swelled in me. I had left home, crossed an ocean for the first time, and that trip was my first time flying too! I did something I never thought I could do. Good job. A big check for such a feat.

Barely enjoying normal life again, to my surprise, we received a message requesting my husband lead a team for another trip to do His work. I could not believe it. So soon. Wow. But I knew God was doing this. Me resting on my laurels was not in His plan. We obeyed again, and yes, I struggled with anxiety while there.

Thankfully, the Lord used a completely different situation in the early 21st century to call me to pay attention to my issue with anxiety. Through the power of His Holy Spirit, God guided me to a plan that included some practices that put me in scripture consistently, sometimes several times daily. These practices were in addition to a morning quiet time already established for decades.

Anxiety starts in the mind. So these practices (most of which I share on this site) brought more peace and allowed me to relax enough to enjoy the Lord’s presence. As I grew to know Him more, intrusive thoughts were minimized. My default mechanism of anxiety was healed. God no longer seemed far away in my struggle. He was near, and He cared and was healing me. As I look back, I see I participated in Matthew 11:28-30.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

In 2019, my husband sensed we would take a new direction different from anything we’d done before. I could not believe it. I knew this would mean we wouldn’t visit a foreign and unfamiliar country, but we would live in a foreign and unfamiliar country.

For years, whenever I’d read Psalm 139, my eyes would gaze on vs. 9, which says, “If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” Thoughts would swirl as I wondered if Psalm 139:9 would ever be true for me.

Today as I live in a foreign country writing this, I am aware I am very far from the familiar, it is on the far side of the sea, and I’m living in the verse to the praise of His Name.

Yes, anxiety occasionally visits, but God’s Word has long-term effects, and I benefit greatly from the years of intentional investment in His Word. If a struggle begins, I have trust in God now to believe He is with me in my struggle. I have tools that redirect my mind and invite help from the Holy Spirit. Any struggle ends quickly. I am thankful He loved me so much to help me pay attention to this. The love for His Word that resulted and the joy of His presence is a gift that keeps on giving.

“Let God’s promises shine on your problems.” Corrie Ten Boom

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

©Valerie Rumfelt

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