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Today I am in my office and it is one of those lazy days where the rain is gently hitting our tin roof. You could just stay in bed and sleep just a few more hours or, cat nap all day. 

About five years ago, I had no office. Living in a small home does not always give you the amenities you would like to have.  However, I was attending school full time and my study materials were all over the living room and there was a realization it was just time to do something.  Not to mention I am an artist and refurbish furniture. Yes, I used a tarp in my living room to do that too. So we took our small porch and enclosed it to make another room which would be my office/studio. 

The porch was landscaped with wild ferns around it. When the handy man began to work he paid no attention to those ferns. In fact he trampled those ferns like they did not even exist. Materials were everywhere, and I was certain, that was the end of those ferns. 

Life can be just like that. You go along and then all of the sudden you get trampled.  One minute things are going great and in the blink of an eye there is devastation.  You think, where did this come from? Why is this happening?  Life is totally out of control. What in the world do I do? 

In the Word, God encourages us, “Do not fear, for I am with you…I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous hand.” (Isaiah 41:10).

I was totally upset over the trampled ferns. The reality, I was getting an office/studio. With bigger disappointments or challenges, I have had to learn to trust God with my life –  not to be afraid, to allow God to strengthen me, to help me and trust that He is holding on to me.  Little by little, I have learned to just let God be God in my life.  If He says, “I will,” then He will.

As all of the debris was cleaned up, the ferns began to sprout back out. Even though they were trampled and broken, God touched them and made them grow back even lovelier than before.  Be encouraged no matter what life throws at you, God wants to be God in your life.  He desires to strengthen you, to help you and to hold on to you.

“I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears.  Those who look to Him are radiant and their faces shall never be ashamed” Psalm 34:4-5.

Yvette Perrin is a columnist for The Charlotte Gazette. She can be reached at theword2yvette@gmail.com.