So this year we opened our 2nd restaurant with our amazing business partners on February 20th, and goodness God showed up big. We had prayed with our amazing partners, church, friends, and family for months, and finally our doors opened. God moved big. The store was at the top of the company for weeks, and then the Coronavirus hit. Restaurants were shut down, and staff sent home indefinitely. Over 10 million people in the US alone applied for unemployment, and families all over have been impacted, lives lost, loved ones lost, churches closed, and lives changed. And so how do we find hope when life is chaos? How do we find hope when there’s so much uncertainty about the future? How do we find hope when fear ad doubt seem to creep into our thoughts? The Word of God! I know that sounds super cliche, but God is really impressing on me this week: “Where is your worship, Shelly?” Will you worship me or will you worship this Coronavirus situation and how it impacts your businesses? So, I grabbed my bible and started digging into scriptures about combatting fear and doubt! God is in control! God has us! God has you! So here are 20 scriptures to combat doubt and fear!
20 Bible Verses to Combat Doubt and Fear
Genesis 17:15-21 “ God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”
19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.[a] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”
Genesis 18:10-14 10 “Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
John 20:24-29 24 “Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
James 1:5-8 5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”
Matthew 6:34 34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
6. Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, 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.”
7. Psalm 27:1 “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?
8. 2nd Timothy 1:7 “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
9. Isaiah 41:10, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
10. Joshua 1:5 “No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Before we go to the 11th scripture, I want you to take a look at the above picture. This was days after we opened our doors to Eggs Up Grill Camden. My husband was exhausted but so happy to see the kids and I! Our staff was so excited to serve people. I could feel the peace of God all over our restaurant. I could feel the joy over Camden. And it was the same at our restaurant at Killian! And guys, I’m believing that God will do the impossible in and at our restaurant! That we will be able to serve and love on people again. That we will be able to love on our community. That we will be able to be a beacon of hope and light again in our restaurants and beyond. This Coronavirus is impacting our businesses. This Coronavirus has impacted our family and staff. But this Coronavirus will NOT impact our faith and hope in Jesus! We will not doubt the goodness of God! We will not have fear of the future! We will cling to the hope of God! The promises of God! The promises of God are for us! For you and me! And even in the midst of craziness WE can trust in our SOVEREIGN GOD who is for us and fighting our battles each and every day! Do you believe that today friend!
11. 1st Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
12. Psalm 56:11 “in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?”
13. Psalm 9:10 “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”
14. Psalm 138:8 “The Lord will vindicate me; your love, Lord, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands.”
15.John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
16. Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”
17.John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
18.Isaiah 40:28-31 “Do you not know?Have you not heard?The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
19. Philippians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
20. Matthew 6:25-34 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendorwas dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Now I need you to take it a step further with these scriptures! I need for you to write one of these scriptures on a notecard and post it somewhere you can see it. And I need for you to pray that scripture over your family, over your marriage, over your business, over your job, over your kids, over our city, over our world! Believing that God hears you, believing that God is moving mountains on your behalf! So do that now and start praying right now! God is for you friend! Let’s believe his promises for us today!
Until next time friend,
Shelly
