When life dares to creep out from under our absolute rule, we panic and our soul fills with dread, worry and stress. Truthfully, regardless of how tight we hold the reins of control over our life, circumstances occur despite of our best efforts to keep them manageable.
The world advises us to act regardless of our fears. This philosophy attempts to conquer our fears by changing our heart and mind concerning them. We are still afraid, but we are supposed to dig down deeper and summon the courage to act regardless of our feelings.
However, God’s plan is that if we walk in obedience, we enjoy His blessings. Rather than reaping the results of our carnal, finite decisions, we obey His plans for our life. This guarantees our success and allows us to have more time to notice His daily gestures of love for us, as we follow His directives for each moment of our day.
God’s Word addresses the concept of fear versus trust in multiple places (Joshua 1:9). It teaches us to rejoice in tribulation, to love the Lord with our whole heart, and to trust Him with every aspect of our life (Proverbs 3:5-6). He has only our best interest in His heart and mind (Jeramiah 29:11; Isaiah 43:1-3).
Fear and faith are two sides of the same coin. What we focus on increases either our fear or our faith. When our mind is focused on the Lord rather than on our circumstances, and we trust Him with our whole heart, He keeps us in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3).
What exactly do we fear? Failure, embarrassment, disappointment, suffering, and death are a few reasons for our fears. However, we can come boldly to His throne anytime to obtain His mercy and grace to walk in His ways (Hebrews 4:16).
We prove our love for God by keeping His commandments, and in return, God is our fortress, deliverer, provider, and protector. He gives us His faith to replace our fears, and He makes His face to shine on us. He is gracious to us in every way, during every single moment of our day (Numbers 6:25-26).
Prayer:
Father God, enable us to understand Your purposes in our trials, so we can learn from them, and grow spiritually in them and because of them. We trust You with our whole heart, and we surrender to You our insecurities, anxiety, and our struggles with unbelief (Mark 9:23-25).
Remind us that we do not exhibit courage by avoiding our fears, but by conquering them through Your Spirit. Thank You for strengthening us in our times of trouble and for walking with us in them and through them to victory on the other side. Help us to trust You more, worry less, and take the victory over fear that You offer to us each day.
Thought for the Day:
God’s perfect love rids us of all fear (1 John 4:18), and as He deepens our trust in His faithfulness and love, our spiritual maturity grows; His courage replaces our fears, and we learn to share our anxiety with Him and to listen as He gives us His wisdom about our concerns.
