Welcome to week 2 of our online study, In God’s Presence. We are thrilled to have you back or to have you here for the first time. If it is your first time, do not run away thinking, “I am behind”. You are welcome! You can start today or you can go back and read week one, here on the blog. The awesome thing is that every post for the study is beautiful in itself and has a truth to share with your heart.

Today our very own, Jodie Barrett, opens up about being a military wife and shares about the peace she received at a time when she needed God more than ever.

Click here to download a PDF copy of today’s devotion, prayer, scripture, and further study>>>>>In God’s Presence Day 6

Click here to download Week 2 Study Bookmarks>>>>InGodsPresence_Bookmarks_Week2

Jodie writes:

Last week we discovered that in the presence of God there is God. What I now understand, is that the more we discover what His word says about His character and His promises, the more attuned we are to His presence. For truly we can trust He will never leave us, He is always with us. Today, I join the twenty plus women in sharing a personal testimony of a time when God’s presence consumed me with peace.

Being a military wife comes with sacrifices, struggle, and worry. Admittedly, I know that the Bible instructs us not to worry, and yet I worry. After orders were received for my husband to deploy to a foreign country for a year, my worry was at an all-time high. Here is a good time to tell that I tend to be a control freak. How could I possibly control anything when my husband would be out of contact, out of reach, and out of my control? I knew that I would never survive a year without pleading for God to be present with my husband, trusting that God alone, could and would always be with him.

Knowing things in your mind doesn’t always help. Sometimes what your head knows, your heart must also trust.

One day, in preparation for what deployment would bring, I crawled into my closet, my bible in hand. The world’s noise was my enemy, I had to drown it out. After reading in Psalm 18:28-29, “For You, O LORD, light my lamp; my God enlightens my darkness. For in you I can charge an army, and by my God I can scale a wall.”, I asked God to take over my thoughts. Claiming the promise of these verse for my husband, I released my control and trusted my husband and his troops with God. His protection is far greater than any I can offer. His presence knows no bounds. His strength has no limits. His peace consumed my heart like a wave consumes the shoreline.

During deployment, I received a few calls from my mother-in-law. She asked if I had heard from her boy, anxiety present in her voice. Once, I answered no and asked why she was concerned. She asked if I had seen the news. I had not, but it didn’t matter, the only news I needed was the good news that God’s promises are true and He is faithful. I even had a few moments of guilt for not worrying. So as God’s word instructs, I prayed and remembered,

Worry is wasteful, and prayer is powerful.

Prayer engages the most powerful One to act on our behalf.

I did ask God to remove His peace from me if I needed to have concern for my husband. Guess what? His peace never left, my prayers never ended, His presence my constant in an ever-changing world.

~ Jodie

Today’s Prayer:

Lord, We long to be in your presence. Help us cling to the truth. The truth says you are always with us (Matthew 28:20). When we desire to be in control help us release everything to you. Replace our worry with peace. Amen

Further Study:

Read Psalm 18:1-2. Fill in the blanks:

I love you, Lord, my ___________.
The Lord is my ____, my _______ and my _______;
my God is my _____, in whom I take refuge,
my _______ and the horn of my _______, my _________.

Are you currently facing uncertainty? Is there a situation you are having trouble releasing control over to God?

Read Psalm 18:16-18

“He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.”

Does distance matter to God? According to the psalmist, He _______ from on ______.

Are our enemies any match for the strength of God? Does knowing this help you feel the presence of His peace?


Join us tomorrow as we talk about courage in God’s presence. We are praying for you!

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