It's Catching Fire...

Catching Fire, the latest installment in the Hunger Games trilogy, and one of the best movies I've seen in a while. This was going to be a post about the dinner and movie date that Matthew took me on and about how amazing this movie was. 

Yet after watching it, after hearing what I heard...to write merely a movie review would be a waste. A waste of time and breath. So let me get to the good part, the part that I've been thinking about and praying about for a few days now. I prayed and prayed that God would give me the words to say and to make this post shine for His glory. I pray that He uses this to free you as well my friend. 

Have you ever felt it? The paralyzing fear, the kind that rips your breath from your chest, bleeds your eyes of its tears, and breaks your body to force it to the ground? 

Have you ever felt it?

I have, I've been there, the fear of the unknown, the fear of losing my family...of what is in the dark. 

It was an unwelcome friend, accompanying me along this life's journey, breaking me at my weakest. When what I needed most was Hope, fear ripped me away. 

But No More...

No more..Fear will no longer have dominion over me. It will no longer have the power to break me, to strip me of reality, to take me from Truth. 

You see, this is why this phrase struck me at the core, the very heartstrings of my heart. It burned through the skin and melded itself into my bone, infused in my marrow. Hope....hope. That is my defense. 

Hope in what? Is hope truly that strong? It is more than just hope, it is Who you hope in. My hope is in Christ. The One who not only sacrificed Himself to pay for our sins, but Who rose from the dead and conquered Death in His wake. He is my hope. Whom shall I fear when the Lord of ALL CREATION is in me and beside me. Fear, where is your power?? 

My friends, if Christ is your hope, you are no longer under the power of fear. Christ has redeemed you from this, you are no longer its slave! When you stumble into fear's realm, when you take that step and recognize the icy cold touch of fear sliding through your veins, threatening to steal your breath and claim your emotions, remember Who your hope is. Pray, dear friend, and Christ will comfort you. 

 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus ~~Philippians 4:6,7

So I ask you, where is your hope? Do you even have hope? When the freezing fingers of fear threaten your throat, where do you turn? To Whom do you turn? It's only through Christ that we have freedom from fear. He is the only one who can give us peace, the peace that we can't begin to understand. 

So I ask you again, to Whom do you turn during these moments? Is your hope stronger than fear? Mine?...Well, Mine conquered the grave.

xoxo,

Samantha