A couple of years ago I received a CD as an early Christmas present at a gift swap among friends. Not only was I elated to have in my possession a shiny new CD with real album notes, I was stunned by the songwriter’s lyrical power.

One song* in particular stopped me in my tracks. It began:

The same great love that gives us breath, the same great love that conquered death – is flowing through me.

Wait . . .what?

The same great love that gives us breath. God’s great love which breathed life into dust . . . continues to sustain our lives today?

The same great love that conquered death. God’s great love which brought Jesus back to life . . . this love, through Jesus, is flowing through ME?

The thought made my eyes prickle with tears. Goosebumps stand up on my arms.

I thought: Do I really believe that?

There are moments when I do believe. When I am quiet and still and there is no one around, or when I am swept away by a particularly powerful worship song – yes, I believe wholeheartedly in that possibility, and it brings me to my knees. It makes me dance. It makes me laugh and cry all at once.

Even as I write this, I can feel the peace these words bring. My breath evens. I feel a sense of calm.

But do I live as though I believe?

I thought, If Christ is living in me – if the same Holy Spirit that raised him from the grave and calmed the stormy seas and gave sight to the blind is truly living and breathing in me – what do I have to fear?

The answer is and should be “nothing.”

But I am human. And I often live as though I am in bondage to fear.

I fear so much: the unknown, my own imperfections, unavoidable danger. It is easy to allow myself to get paralyzed, to forget that I have agency in my own story.

Because that’s the key, isn’t it? That I have agency in a story I am co-writing with the Author of the universe. I am NOT a slave to fear. I have been set free.

And what, what if I believed in your power . . .and I really lived it?

What if I believed Christ in me?

What if I believed in the power of the Holy Spirit? What if I believed so strongly that I began living my days as though I were truly walking by faith? A life where I am not bound to fear or to the lie that I will never overcome the old stories in my past?

If I lived as though I believed the power of Christ in me, I believe my passion and power as a woman would be unfurled. I believe God could use me in ways I could never dream up on my own. I believe I would become more myself, the woman God created me to be.

I believe that’s what he wants of me. I believe that’s what he wants of you.

Do you believe?

*“Christ in Me,” Tim Timmons