There are situations in life that seem so overwhelming that they might just swallow us whole. On top of that, the enemy is taunting us so loudly that we are struggling to hear the still small voice of God.

Maria Furlough says the first thing we can do to stop the enemy in his tracks and grab hold of God’s promises for our lives is to search for God.

“Go on a search; be intentional about looking for God. What I mean by that is He says that we should look at creation.”

Maria reflects on the Isaiah’s message of comfort and hope for God’s people found in Isaiah 40.

“The people are in despair. They are in exile and saying, is God here? Is He working? God made a promise to them but they can’t see how it could come true. Isaiah says to them,

“Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” Isaiah 40:26

“He’s sustaining this creation, and if He’s doing that for the stars, what does that mean He’s doing for His people who He loves dearly?”

We can look at creation to remember God’s faithfulness in our lives, but Maria says we can also search throughout Scripture and look for His promises; not just the promises of what’s to come, but the promises that He’s already fulfilled.

“Look in the Old Testament where He cares for His people over and over and over, even when they’re faithless, grumbling, and questioning where He is. We can go on a search for Him and see that His character stands true in every part of the Bible.”

“There’s this pattern that He gives us to look at creation and let it speak to you about who created those things you see. But then also look in the past, not just at scripture but in your own life: How has He been faithful to you in the past? How has He promised to be faithful to you moving forward? And then cling to those promises.”


Maria Furlough is a wife, a mother of five, and the head of women’s ministry at Lake Forest Church in Huntersville, North Carolina. She has been writing and teaching Bible studies for fourteen years and currently writes on the blog True Worth.

Maria Furlough on breaking the fear cycle