When the nurse called me with my test results, she said, “Everything looks good except one thing.”

I held my breath, “Okay, I think I’m ready.”

The Facts. Without going into the nitty-gritty details of my current health update, I’ll just report her words, “You need to lose 10% of your body weight.”

Now, that might sound easy to some of you, but I’ve fought the battle of the scales most of my adult life. So, I replied, “Yikes! Sounds like I’d better come up with a new health plan now!”

The Questions? After the nurse reported a few more details about my health, she asked, “Do you have any questions?”

Yes! I had a hundred questions! What am I doing wrong? What am I doing right? Where do I start? I tried not to panic. But I knew I couldn’t ignore such an expensive wake-up call.

I’m not surprised about my need to modify my eating habits and adopt an effective exercise program. But since I failed miserably in the past, my emotional red flags began to flap violently. Once again, I felt hopeless, and I fought off the negative thoughts as best as I could. Lord, help me!

The Promises. Within moments, a promise broke through the dark clouds of my despair like a ray of sunshine, “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Tim. 1:7 NLT).

So, I stopped, dropped, and prayed, Lord, I know fear is not from you. And you have given me all of the fruit of your Spirit—”love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control ” (Gal. 5:22-23 NLT).

And “I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13 HCSB).

What promises from God’s Word help you when you sense despair overcoming you?#WordsThatChangeEverything