Christian women were encouraged to let go of their fears during the pandemic and trust in God at Jesus House's Uncommon Woman conference over the weekend.
Keynote speaker Michelle McKinney Hammond told the hundreds of women watching live online that it was natural to be worried about things like health, finances or the future, and that many of these fears had only been heightened by the events of the past year.
"These have been fearful times. We've experienced one of the craziest years," she said.
"We've faced pandemics, we've had economic and political unrest, we've had environmental crises, we've had racism rearing its ugly head, we've had death, despair, doom, gloom, anxiety and depression.
"Many have given in to fear ... anxiety is way up this year."
McKinney Hammond spoke of her own personal challenges, having been stranded in London for seven months when the border to her country of residence, Ghana, was closed after the outbreak of the pandemic, and losing income when all her speaking engagements were cancelled as the virus spread.
"I remained steadfast and said 'God You told me this year that You would supply a continuous stream of income for me, so I'm looking at You, my eyes are on You. I don't know how You're going to pull it off in this season where we can't move around or do anything, but I'm standing on the promise, I'm standing on the word that says You will supply all my needs according to Your riches and glory by Christ Jesus'," she said.
"I rehearsed the Word and reminded myself of what God said - I don't need to remind Him because He knows what He said, but I need to remind me what God said and stand on that."
McKinney Hammond told women that the key to overcoming fear was knowing the love of God, being in a trusting relationship with Him, and standing on His promises.
"The promises of God are the weapons of your warfare. You get to stand on the word of what He promised you in the face of fearful conditions," she said.
She told women to examine their relationship with God and see if they were really trusting God.
"We trust in God but do we trust God? Those are two different things. The [dollar] bill in America says 'in God we trust' but a lot of people aren't paying attention to God, they're not thinking about God. So we can say we trust in God but do we really trust God?" she said.
She added, "Examine your relationship with God. The vaccine for fear and the source of trust is relationship. It starts with relationship."
