'The Shack' journey continues

For William P. Young, the author of 'The Shack,' an amazing journey continues, according to an article in The Toledo Blade:

'When people ask me what I do, I tell them I hang around burning bushes all day,' William Paul Young said, referring to the biblical story of how God spoke to Moses from a burning bush. 'You get to hear people's stories and you get to listen in on really precious, intimate things.'

Young said that from the start of his 'Shack' 'journey' he felt he was just going along for the ride with God.

As Young travels the world talking with people, something amazing has happened: the openness and vulnerability in his writing has helped people to open their hearts, stop hiding their failures, and overcome living in fear.

How to defeat fear, worry and insecurity

Beth Moore, the author of "So Long, Insecurity," describes on beliefnet a unique exercise that God took her through recently. Moore recounts how God interrupted a prayer of hers:

Child, tell Me your worst fears.

I was a little taken aback. After all, I was in the throes of a particularly descriptive lament. Still, in my human estimation, He had no doubt spoken, so who was I to ask Him to wait His turn? I did what He requested. I told Him my worst fears. Then He 'said' something I never could have anticipated:

Let's say those things happened.

Trust me when I tell you, that is not what I wanted to hear from God. I wanted reassurances like, 'I will never let any of those things happen to you.' I sensed Him continue the interaction despite my bewilderment and dread.

Beth, picture yourself going through the whole process of one of your worst fears becoming a reality. Get all the way to the other side of it. What do you see there?

So I did. I saw myself getting the news I feared most, bawling my eyes out, grieving a loss, or going through all the emotions of betrayal. The tears stung in my eyes. Butterflies flew to my stomach. My insides turned out. But something odd happened on the other side.

What happened next for Moore in the exercise was picturing the entire scenario, with God helping Moore back up on her feet -- just like He has dozens of times.

It's so easy to worry. I know that I do it all the time. I'm trying to cut down on it though, because it's such a waste. Romans 8:18 says that there is something glorious coming in the future. It's time to relax in God. After all, if God is for us, who can be against us?

God leads James King to Nadia Bloom

Nadia Bloom, an 11-year-old girl from Winter Springs, Fla., recently became lost in the alligator-filled Lake Jesup forest near her home. Bloom got off of her bike and quickly became lost -- for four days. Rescue teams and the police searched for her, but a man named James King found her -- by following God.

King is quoted in a recent column from The Huffington Post:

Rescue teams searched for days on foot, by helicopter, and with search dogs, but James King, a volunteer and member of Nadia's church, began to pray while searching. On ABC's 'Good Morning America,' King said, 'I prayed and prayed, and God showed me the way. The hardest part of it was getting out of my own way; putting my own thoughts aside and listening to God.' Appearing on NBC's 'Today Show,' King confessed to Meredith Vieira that his wife, Diane King, gave him advice the night before joining the search, 'James, when we lose something we pray in the spirit and we always find it.'

Kudos to King for being open about God leading the way. As you can read in The Huffington Post column, he had plenty of people criticizing him in the national media; King handled their criticism very well.