Our world is anxious right now; our world is scared. It’s no secret we are living in unsettling times and with news flashes every few minutes, it’s easy to get sucked into a spirit of despair. But I refuse to give in. In fact, I have joy! The world says it’s going to get worse before it gets better but God says the best is yet to come.

Hebrews 10:23: Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

While the media keeps banging it over our heads that we are in unprecedented times, the Lord had it all planned out. From plagues to locusts and never-ending natural disasters, it’s all there in His Word. And now more than ever, God is calling His people to remain firm in the only Truth. The world is watching; we must show them that the love of Christ gives us the courage to stand. Instead of allowing the messages of fear to permeate our spirits, we must prophesy, “this too shall pass.”

And so, during this pandemic, I’ve recommitted myself to reading the Bible from cover to cover. I’ve always failed in the past but I’m feeling pretty optimistic this time. Here in Genesis, I’m relearning the promises God made to one of his most faithful friends, Abraham, and His descendants …us. The promises of God are the key to overcoming hard times.

It is crucial for you and me as believers of Christ to know what God has pronounced concerning our lives. And now, He has shut down the whole world so that we may remember what He told us. God loves us so much that He stopped international operations to get our attention – how crazy is that?! He desires for us to remember what we’ve been promised. These promises bring peace in a time where people are filled with panic. And so, we must pause.

For many of us, the message He’s relaying is a reminder. But maybe you’re hearing this for the very first time.

If you’re in the latter group and you’re wondering what in the world is going on; if you desire for your hopelessness and despair to cease, hear this: God can reassure you and give you peace. He loves you to the point where He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for your sins. Everything we are experiencing now is because we are living in a fallen world where the enemy, Satan, wreaks havoc and fights with all his power to grow his camp. The enemy is doing all he can now because he knows what happens at the end of all this. He doesn’t want you to know that in Christ Jesus, we have overwhelming victory! He doesn’t want you to repent (turn away from your sins) and claim your crown in Christ. He doesn’t want you to know who you are.

When you ask God to forgive you and you believe in Christ as your Savior, you become His heir! This means, there are certain covenants made to us because of the blood that was shed on the cross. You, friend, are richly loved and favored.

What Did God Promise Us Through Abraham? A LOT.

God says your sins are forgiven and that He will never ever leave you or forsake you. He will make your name great and you will have descendants greater than the number of stars in the sky (Genesis 22:17). He promises you new life and the whole earth as your pulpit and your inheritance (Habakkuk 2:14; Numbers 18:20). He promises to curse those who curse you and bless those you bless you (Genesis 12:3). He promises goodness and love that will follow you all the days of your life and you will dwell in the House of the Lord forever (Psalm 23:6).

Knowing what you do now, I must ask of you: is your reaction to this world disaster based on who God says you are? Is it based upon His promises to you? Do you realize what the resurrecting power of Christ means for your life? Did you know that even in this time of turmoil, we are blessed?

Or, did you forget who you are?

The promises of God are all sprinkled throughout the Bible and yet here we stand, scratching our heads – hopeless and maybe even doubtful about whether or not we’ll make it through this. We’re blinded by what we see. We fail to realize: when we don’t know Whose we are, we look at life in the lens of someone who is lost. We try our best to put on a smile but we cannot present peace when we are panicking ourselves.

Here’s the truth: we are children of faith and our God knows us by name. We serve the Almighty King and have premier access to His throne. It’s okay to feel shaken but when we stand under God’s covering, we will not be moved (Psalm 91).

The topic of identity isn’t meant to be pretty; there is power in audaciously claiming the promises of God.

So do it. You were made for such a time as this.

When God gave me the message of Claim Your Crown, I had no idea it would serve as a resource in a pandemic! I didn’t know He would use this guide as a tool to push past adversity and put on His promises. He is dismantling the messages that feed your insecurities, fears, doubts and guilt so that we may live in confident victory.

But I almost muzzled His message.

With my new book having just released, I had the month of March full of pre-planned content – from my photoshoots to sharing my travels and snippets of the latest interviews. However, when we all finally realized how serious the issue was, I had to throw those plans away. I found it cringe-worthy to talk about my book when our whole world had been disrupted. I stepped back for a little bit and limited my time on social media. I’m prudent when it comes to posting and I didn’t want to be influenced by the panic. I’m one who does not like feeling pressured and my messages aren’t generally reactionary.

I didn’t want to share fluff so I waited for God to put a message on my heart…until I realized, He already did. My mother reminded me. I was preparing to fully change the course of sharing my heart about Claim Your Crown and while I was telling her I didn’t know what to say, my mom asked me “why would you?” It is now more than ever that God’s children need to rise up and claim their crowns.

This is the time for us to live in the light of Christ.

This is the time for us to be reminded that we are blessed in heavenly places.

This is the time for us to stand and say, “God is for me, who or what can be against me?”

We can either cower in the face of fear, panic and bad news or readjust our crowns and walk with Christlike confidence. God has promised His children security but we’re robbed of His blessings when we focus on our circumstances. This virus is not our portion, no. This virus provides us the opportunity to live the lives God has called us to live — fearless and unashamed. We were not positioned here to scramble, stock up and self-preserve. It’s time we live what we believe and spread the message of the one cure — the ONLY perfect love that casts out all fear. (1 John 4:18)

What will you put your trust in? What you’re seeing with your own eyes or your Savior?

Resources:

• Claim Your Crown Book
• Claim Your Crown Devotional: GUESS WHAT?! The Claim Your Crown devotional is now available on the YouVersion Bible app and has had 25,000 completions in less than a month! GOD IS GOOD. Grab a couple of friends and let’s claim our crowns together!
• 25 Biblical Affirmations to Build Your Confidence & Transform Your Life: Biblical affirmations are SO powerful. Don’t believe me? I’m here to let you know you are ROYALTY. Kings and queens, get your free printables and start declaring them over yourself now! Seriously, these powerful, spiritual affirmations will build your confidence and transform your life! Here’s your guide to a life of freedom.
• Dressed for Battle Podcast: Episode 27 Standing Firm When Your World is Falling Apart