All fear finds its roots in insecurity. Right now we feel the ground moving beneath us. We are acting out of a need to feel some control, like filling our homes with food and toilet paper. We crave security; it gives us a false sense of power. But no matter how hard we try to grasp for control of the people and circumstances in our lives, we are not in control.
David knew who God was, and he viewed the world through this truth. In Psalm 56:9 he says, “This I know, that God is for me”. Can you say that? Do you mean it? If God is for me, every situation is an opportunity…every situation.
Knowing that God is for us does not mean that nothing bad will ever happen to us. Most people really do believe that if they don’t do anything terrible, nothing really bad will happen to them. They may not confess this with their mouth, but it is how they function. Our problem is our definition of “bad”. What we see as bad is often a gift. We aren’t willing to receive it because it takes away our pseudo security. When “bad” happens it forces our eyes off the shifting sands to search for something steadfast, and that is the good that won’t happen without the “bad”. In searching we find more of Jesus than we had before, more than we might have even hoped for.
Fear has always been a struggle for me. I can come up with a horrible spin on any situation in 60 seconds flat. My husband likes to say that for me, it doesn’t have to be possible, it just has to be terrible. It comes naturally to me; I never even had to work on this talent. I come from a long line of fearful and anxiety driven women, but no one could ever help me deal with fear. Countless people would try to comfort me by telling me that what I feared would never happen to me. But, even as a child, I knew they couldn’t know that. Our approach to dealing with fear cannot be to rationalize it away. In this world horrible things do happen. If we cannot rationalize fear away, then we have to learn how to handle it. All of us can let our minds see the terrible over the possible and our emotions take over our reactions.
“Set his steadfast love before your eyes, then walk on in His faithfulness.” Psalm 26:3
How do we set our eyes on steadfast love? We set God always before us, His word, music that speaks His promises, people who speak truth to us, and prayer every five minutes if need be. We refocus on God every time fear rears its ugly head, by starving fear we feed our faith. It may not sound practical, but it works. God always chooses what is effective over what is efficient. Our current situation is an opportunity for practice. Practice setting steadfast love before your eyes. The more we starve fear, the better we can feel the ground underneath us become steadfast.
Lauren Mitchell
CHM Contributor
