“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my rigtheousness.” (Isaiah 41: 10 KJV) “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23: 4 KJV)
I have written about fear and doubt and about how they are the opposites of leading a positive life with Jesus Christ as the center of my heart. Like many people, I think I should be able to handle what life sends me by myself, but all too soon, I know that God needs to be at the helm of all my struggles. When I think of Isaiah 41 and Psalm 23, I know that I fall short of anything God has done for me. He has always been there to guide, soothe, and protect me. Then why do I see myself as the director of my life? I persevere, I fight, and I claw my way through troubles, and only when I’m down to my “last anything,” do I call on God. That’s my problem; God is the last person I go to when He should be my first.
With help from my favorite pastor, Max Lucado, I will try to identify eight steps to help you work creatively on the worries in your life. Always pray first, and stop running in fast circles around the issues. Act on the worry by making a list of your worries. Take time to slowly review your list; pinpoint the themes around those fears. Focus on today, not the past or the future. Ask family and friends to pray for you. “Let go and let God.”
When I think about Psalm 46, I realize that I need to make the Kingdom of God my main concern, not myself. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the seas; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with swelling thereof.” (Psalm 46: 1-3 KJV) Fear can be good for the energy it releases in us to attack a problem, but if that energy is unchecked, it can lead us into a dark tunnel where God does not exist. Allowing our fears and doubts to mushroom into other things, pushes God away and keeps us from doing what is right.
Fear shapes our lives in a way that we begin to feel safety in it rather than in God. One of Jesus Christ’s most used declarations was, “Don’t be afraid.” He continued with questions: “Why are you so alarmed? Why do you not trust me?” To those who question who Christ is, He comes to us in our storms because that is when He has our strongest attention. That is when He takes our broken lives and builds them back up. Every storm is a bridge to a better life, but only if we open our hearts and minds to our Heavenly Father.
There is little good in fear, doubt, and worry; they do cause harm in relationships, situations, and possibilities. They can become a prison for our character and prevent us from moving forward in a positive way. It was only after experiencing a three-month situation with a new, corrupt mortgage company and an attack on my bank accounts by an unscrupulous computer hacker that I began to see how I had taken Christ out of the equation. When I fled the Christmas Eve service, I felt the most hollow feeling I have ever felt in my heart. I had not let the most holy night of the year or the joy of the birth of Jesus center love in my heart. In the quiet of my living room that night, I reached out to Christ and asked Him to come into my troubled life. Allowing Christ into your heart may mean feeling hollow inside until His light begins shining in you.
Fear, doubt, and worry corrode our confidence; they can make anger grow, instead of love, hope, and grace. “Peace I leave with you, my peace, I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27 KJV) John 14 tells us that Christ will give us peace, not what the world calls peace, but an abiding peace for our lives. He calms the slashing lightning, the howling winds, the tsunami waves, and the roaring storms. Only God’s love and grace can conquer your fears, doubts, and worries.
Charles Dickens once wrote in Great Expectations, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” Although my mortgage and financial issues have subsided for the moment, I have learned a very important lesson. When I needed Christ the most, He walked beside me through the fire. When I thought I would see two sets of foot prints in the snow, there was only one, His. There may be other times when I try to solve problems, but without God, those solutions will ultimately fail. My bridge will be torn away in the flood, and my boat will not get to the other side. Only when I reach out to Christ will my life be saved. He is my Rock and my salvation. Calling out to Him, I will say, “I am not afraid!”
Anna Hartt
