Fear or Faith

“Let the morrow be what it may, our God is the God of tomorrow. Whatever events may have happened, which to us are unknown, our Jehovah is God of the unknown as well as of the known. We are determined to trust the Lord, come what may. If the very worst should happen, our God is still the greatest and best. Therefore will we not fear…” -Charles Spurgeon

Several years ago I wrote a post (here) based on Exodus 2:25: “God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.” They’d been in Egypt about 400 years with conditions getting progressively worse. God didn’t suddenly remember that they were there. He’d known all along, but for whatever reason He allowed them to stay and suffer there until what He deemed to be the perfect time. Moses was in wilderness training in Midian for forty years while the Israelites suffered. Even through the ten plagues the people had to keep waiting. Curiously, for most of plagues the Bible does not specifically say that the Israelites living in the land of Goshen were protected from the effects of the plague. They probably wondered where God was and what He was doing. They certainly feared Pharaoh’s retribution, particularly when they were hemmed in by the Red Sea while Pharaoh’s army pursued them.

Even when they were safely across the sea and in the wilderness they couldn’t figure out why they were there or where they were going. They faced one doubt after another as they wandered, and they rebelled against God repeatedly because they didn’t trust His plan for them.

Our current trial with COVID-19 raises a lot of questions too. Why doesn’t God intervene with a miraculous cure? Why didn’t He stop it a long time ago? Is the Church going to suffer because of governmental restrictions? Are our religious freedoms in jeopardy? What good is going to come out of this? Although those are all valid questions, some of which we may never know the answer to, I think there are more important questions we need to ask ourselves: Are we going to feed our faith or our fear? Are we trusting that God knows every detail of what’s going on today and that He is still in control? Are we helping others to trust God through their doubts and fears?

I’ve been pleased with the way some churches, pastors, and leaders have stepped outside their comfort zones to use social media as a tool to share vital truths from Scripture. But I’ve also been frustrated by others who have a running negative commentary on society. At times like this, I think we need to be constantly looking for and sharing reasons for hope and peace and joy. That’s not to say we close our eyes to everything else, but there are already plenty of sources of negative news.

Going back to the Exodus story, think how different the ending would have been if it hadn’t been just Joshua and Caleb who encouraged the people to enter the Promised Land. What if the all of the spies had reported, “The land… is exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, He will bring us into the land and give it to us… Do not fear the people of the land… Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them” (Numbers 14:7-9). But the people chose fear over faith and paid the price of an entire generation dying in the wilderness before they could enter the Promised Land.

Jesus said,

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16 ESV).

Are we living as light in the world by sharing faith and hope, or are we contributing to its darkness by promoting fear and pessimism? Do unbelievers look at us and say “I want that kind of hope,” or do they say “They look just like everyone else now”? Do others see that we truly believe that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea” (Psalm 46:1-2)?

Let’s get busy sowing seeds of faith, not fear!

“For it is You who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness… He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him. For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?” (Psalm 18:28-31).

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Where's Your Hope?

“But you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day” (Joshua 23:8 ESV).

In this age of uncertainty and anxiety due to the coronavirus, what you are clinging to? News coverage? Cleaning supplies? Family members? Or to the Lord your God, the maker of heaven and earth? He’s not wringing His hands and saying, “Oh, I didn’t see that coming!” He knew it from the beginning, and it hasn’t changed the number of days any of us have written in His book (Psalm 139:16).

Statistics in 2019 showed about 41% of people are at least “somewhat” afraid of death. I suspect that figure is significantly higher when there’s a pandemic spreading. Christians need not fear death, though admittedly we might fear the process of dying as well as the impact that death has on loved ones. If we are in Christ, we know our eternal destiny is secure. We should pray that those who are not believers will give serious thought to what happens after death. The current proliferation of online church services should enable some to hear the gospel and respond if they have not yet done so.

After writing those two paragraphs I learned that someone I know died Sunday. Suddenly the pandemic had a face and a name. It was no longer just “something” out there. It ceased to be an inconvenient social experiment and became real people really dying. My prayers had been “Lord, give wisdom to the leaders and doctors and scientists to stop the spread of this disease.” Now they are more like the psalms of lament (see Psalm 13):

How long, O Lord?
Will You forget us forever?
How long will You hide Your face from us?
How long must we have sorrow in our hearts all the day?
How many people must suffer and die?
How many will be mourning loved ones?
How many will be lacking basic necessities of life?
Lord, please intervene quickly!
We are helpless without You!

I’m sure many are asking why God is allowing this to continue. The theological arguments for the effects of the Fall on the world are good, but they don’t really touch the broken hearts of those who have lost family members. We know that God can and will bring some good out of this evil, and I hope that many will turn to faith in Him in these desperate times. But that doesn’t necessarily lessen the pain of the suffering today. Walter Kaiser wrote, “Let us also bow before our Maker and recognize His infinite wisdom in His distinctive and numerous reasons for suffering. And when [no explanation] seems to fit our own moment of crisis, then let us return to the lodestone and central affirmation of the book of Lamentations: ‘Great is Thy faithfulness.’”

“Remember my affliction and my wanderings…
My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’
says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in Him.’
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord”
(Lamentations 3:19-26 ESV).

The song “In Christ Alone” is a good reminder of our source of hope as well as the gospel message. May we place our trust in the One who has overcome sin and death for us, and therefore we may truly find our hope in Christ alone and have no fear in death, because Jesus commands our destiny. “Till He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I stand.”

“For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead… But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:22, 57-58).

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Running Scared

I’ve been reading Ed Welch’s book Running Scared, which seems pretty relevant to where I find myself these days. The following are several quotes that caught my attention, along with a few of my own thoughts.

“There was a time when the biblical commands ‘Do not worry’ and ‘Do not be afraid’ put a quick end to hopes that there was anything attractive to say to fearful people. It seemed as if the biblical counsel was ‘The law says don’t fear, so don’t. End of story.’ But there are at least two different ways to say ‘Don’t worry.’ One is a judicial warning, which has a threatening overtone; the other is a parental encouragement, which aims to comfort. Scripture has both, but Luke placed the accent on parental encouragement [in Luke 12:22-34]” (9-10).

I don’t think this is a thing of the past. It seems very much alive today. I agree that the overall tone of the biblical narrative regarding fear is encouragement, not condemnation.

 “There are, of course, treatments for fears and anxieties. Medication dulls the physical symptoms, psychological treatments address the thoughts. If you are afraid to fly because you keep thinking the place will crash, you can replace that thought with another. I’ve flown many times before and nothing has happened. It’s the safest way to travel. This might help, but it rests on the premise that fear submits to logic, which is a dubious assumption. In reality, fears are rarely logical. Or, as fearful people might protest, they are very logical. If the statistics on plane crashes indicate that they are extremely rare, the statistics also say that planes do crash and people actually die in plane crashes. Someone is going to be that 1 in 100,000” (23-24).

“As worry veers out of control, cool heads try to help. First, they state the obvious: Worry doesn’t help. Second, they add that worry has more in common with astrology than it does careful weather forecasts. Then, if nothing else works, helpers try to assuage the worrier by making the environment more secure, if possible… It takes something more powerful than logic and statistical probabilities to assuage our fears and anxieties” (52-53).

The supra-rationality of fear is one of the most aggravating things about it. There is no logic that will automatically calm fears. Thus we try to control the uncontrollable.

“Behind this desire for control is the gnawing awareness that we are merely human… by design we are limited and we know it. No matter how much we rail against our dependency on other people, we really are dependent people with limited control… Since independence only works during the really good times, the obvious answer would be to seek God. The problem is that God, the One in control, does not seem to exert much control. Trust him or not, bad things will happen” (40-41).

If faith in God guaranteed immunity from difficulty, we’d have no problem sharing the gospel and convincing people to follow Him.

 “[Is it] wrong to be afraid? Is it sinful? Maybe, but put those questions on hold. The emphasis in Scripture is, ‘When I am afraid, I will trust in you’ (Ps. 56:3). The issue isn’t so much whether or not we are afraid and worry. Scripture assumes that we will be afraid and anxious at times. What is important is where we turn, or to whom we turn when we are afraid. The God who calls you to trust in him when you are afraid will spend a great deal of time showing you that you can trust him” (69).

So we return to the basics: God is faithful, He loves us dearly, He knows what we’re going through, He is with us in every situation, and He will help us endure whatever He allows to come our way.

“Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for He gives to His beloved sleep” (Psalm 127:1b-2).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Anxious for Nothing?

Multiple times lately I’ve been frustrated by the things I see written by pastors and Christian authors on the subject of anxiety. It usually goes something like this: Jesus commanded in Matthew 6:25, “Do not be anxious” and Paul repeats that command in Philippians 4:6. Therefore, when we are anxious we are exhibiting a lack of faith and are sinning by breaking that command. While there is a measure truth there, I think many authors overstate the case. In part, I think that is due to the wide variety of experiences that are referred to by the word “anxiety” both scripturally and in our lives today.

I noticed this week another comment that Paul made in Philippians 2:28 (ESV) regarding Epaphroditus: “I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.” In addition, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:28, “And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” Should this then be interpreted as Paul confession his sin and repenting of his anxiety? I don’t think so. There is no indication of that being the case.

Even when Jesus spoke to Martha in Luke 10:41-42, He didn’t tell her she needed to repent. He said, “You are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” It was a gentle correction, not condemnation. Likewise, when ministering to people who are anxious for whatever reason, it is not helpful to tell them “You’re sinning and need to repent.” Nor is it helpful to say, “You just need to trust God.” Throwing cliches at the person does not fix anything, and in fact may contribute to greater anxieties about lack of faith.

Anxieties, fears, and concerns exist for a reason. God made us with natural physical, mental, and emotional responses to danger in order protect ourselves. He also gave us logical minds to help us plan for the future and think through how we should respond to potential circumstances. However, in a fallen world, our bodies and minds do not always function as they should, and our responses are often out of proportion to reality. Some of our responses to anxiety can be sinful and do need to be confessed and changed, but many others need simple encouragement and counsel to deal with the sources of anxiety and to learn better coping methods.

This has really hit home with me lately as I’ve coped with the fallout of watching my house be broken into before Christmas. The lingering fears are greater than logic would justify. Though steps for greater home security have been implemented at my house, nothing can totally eliminate the anxiety. In no way do I believe my anxiety is sinful or reflects any lack of faith. I know God is in control and He is with me in every situation, and I trust Him to take care of me. (Incidentally, PTSD is not limited to military personnel and has a wide variety of causes, symptoms, and intensities.)

As I shared with my pastor recently, faith is worked out and grows through testing. None of us have perfect faith yet. In my opinion, anxiety is an opportunity to grow in faith in the midst of painful and divided thoughts and emotions. God can and will use difficult events and circumstances to develop our faith and teach us to depend on Him more fully one day at a time.

“This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your promise gives me life” (Psalm 119:50).

Text and photo © 2019 Dawn Rutan. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Hopes and Fears

“The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight” (Phillips Brooks).

The first Sunday of Advent is often linked with the theme of hope, and I’ve been thinking a lot about this line from “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Brooks wrote the song a few years after the Civil War, so I expect he knew a bit about hopes and fears. When life is easy and free from anxiety, who needs hope? But hope is a lifeline when fears are overwhelming.

I have often been guilty of thinking of Christian hope as something rooted in the future. The hope for a perfected world for eternity is a good hope and one worth hanging onto. But that’s not the only hope. As Brooks correctly identified, our fears are addressed by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus two millennia ago. Our hope is grounded in the past, not just in the future. Christ meets us in our fears.

• When we fear that God doesn’t hear— “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard... O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage” (Daniel 10:12, 19 ESV).
• When we feel alone and weak— “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand... For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you” (Isaiah 41:10, 13).
• When shame hangs over us— “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more” (Isaiah 54:4).
• When we fear death— “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:17b-18).
• When we are suffering— “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:20).
• When persecution comes— “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested… Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).

I’ve found that hope is a choice. It is choosing to believe the promises of God over the lies of the world. It isn’t always easy to believe that God is good and that He is in control. There are times when hope feels too risky. There are times when admonitions to hope simply fall on deaf ears. But even when we don’t hear it, feel it, or understand it, God is still faithful.

Edward Welch wrote in Shame Interrupted,

“Hope was once a curse to you. It was just another occasion for disappointment and grief… Some days the truth sounds like mere words… When you believe what God has said rather than lies, you are doing valuable work. When you choose hope over despair, your choice has lasting significance. When you get out of bed and persevere in ordinary obedience because you are representing the King, your labor is noticed even by heavenly beings (Ephesians 3:10)” (317, 320, 324).

May this Christmas season bring renewed hope to all who seek Him.

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10b-11).

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

Fearless

I’m reading the book Fearless, by Suzanne D. Williams, which has some helpful and encouraging thoughts in regards to fear. She points out that Philippians 3:13 calls us to forget (no longer care for) those things that lie behind. “Allowing the cares of life, in this case the fear, to operate in my mind causes any seed of God’s Word planted in my heart to never do what it was planted to do… It is God’s will that ‘not a trace’ of the memory of this fear remain. Instead, we remember the power of the Lord, which brings our deliverance” (44). She urges readers to lay hold of these verses:

Isaiah 41:12-13 (ESV)- “You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you.’”

Isaiah 26:13-14- “O Lord our God, other lords besides You have ruled over us, but Your name alone we bring to remembrance. They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end You have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them.”

It’s amazing how fears seem to take on a life of their own—a family member doesn’t call at the designated time, and suddenly they “must be” at death’s doorstep; a boss criticizes you so he “must be” planning to fire you; and so on. If all our fears came true, the world would have exploded long ago.

Why do we let our fallen imaginations have more power over us than God’s Word? The past and the future are not living beings. Whatever we remember and whatever we can imagine have no real power. God dwells with us in His eternal present. As we live in His presence, and because of His power and love, we have nothing to fear. And yet many of us live quite fearfully. We live in a culture of anxiety, and we try to medicate the symptoms without addressing the root problem. At heart, we are not trusting God to be God. We have set ourselves on the throne, desiring to be in control but lacking the ability to control anything.

I’m not trying to point fingers at anyone but myself. I would love to blame physiology, sociology, or psychology, but mostly it is bad theology. My thoughts don’t line up with what I say I believe about God. Either He is in control, or He’s not omnipotent. Either He knows the future better than I do, or He’s not omniscient. Either He’s at work all around me in ways I can’t begin to comprehend, or He’s not omnipresent. Who am I to worry whether He’ll take care of my problems?

“God, did you know that…?” -I know.

“But what about…?” -I’m taking care of it.

“But the deadline is…” -My timing is perfect.

“OK, so what can I do?” -Just rest, child.

“He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand” (Psalm 121:3b-5).

For more on this subject, check out- http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/use-anxiety-to-your-advantage

© 2016 Dawn Rutan. 

Faith or Fear

Last night I read Genesis 20, where Abraham passes Sarah off as his sister (for the second time!). He tells Abimelech, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’” It’s ironic that he says they don’t fear God, and yet he was the one who deceived them instead of trusting God to protect him. It was the fear of God that caused Abimelech to return Sarah to him untouched. Abraham appears to have feared men more than he feared God.

Don’t we all do that at times? We judge the beliefs of others, but we don’t realize how we are failing to live up to what we say we believe ourselves. We label others as unbelievers or baby Christians, yet our own actions reveal our lack of faith.

The Desiring God blog just posted an article by Jon Bloom, “Lay Aside the Fear of Man.” He writes, “We all experience this fear, and most of us don’t want to admit how serious its tyranny can be… we obey the one we fear.” If we truly believe God is in control and that He loves us more than we can imagine, there’s no real reason to fear anything people can say or do. Men can insult us, fire us, or even kill us, but they cannot separate us from the love of God and eternal life with Him. Perhaps the real problem is that we value this life and its comforts more than we ought. It is enjoyable to be well-liked, gainfully employed, and free from difficulties, but that may not line up with a life of obedience to God.

Abraham had been told he would be the father of many nations (Gen. 15:5) and would live to old age (15:16), yet he didn’t trust that God would protect him in his journeys. It is amusing how many times he felt he had to take matters into his own hands. Yet in spite of their failures, Abraham and Sarah both made it into the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. The other people listed in that chapter had their own mistakes and faults as well. That makes them even better witnesses to God’s grace, mercy, and faithfulness.

It’s good to know that our faith doesn’t have to be perfect all the time. It may ebb and flow, and circumstances may cause us to doubt, but God knows our weakness and desire to trust Him more fully. It’s no coincidence that Hebrews 12 starts out with a reminder to keep looking to Jesus for encouragement and endurance. Only when we keep our eyes in the right place can we trust Him to do all that He has promised. When we start looking for man’s approval, or we see the storms raging around us, we are sure to lose heart and make the wrong choices.

As usual, I’m preaching first to myself. In this week of meetings and frustrations, it was easy to get focused on the wrong things and get bogged down in the details. But as I was reminded by the Sidewalk Prophets song, “You love me anyway.” Ultimately, God’s love is more important than any plans we can make, any budget we can write, or any policies we can pass. His love means more than a comfortable job, a happy home, or civil liberties. Faith in His love and His promises gives us reason to endure, to follow, and to obey.

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28 ESV).

© 2016 Dawn Rutan. 

Fightings and Fears

One day recently while reading a fictional story, I encountered the sentence, “Don’t try to fight alone.” As I moved on through the paragraph, I realized what I had heard in my mind was, “Try not to fight alone,” and I knew that was a very different idea. It’s not unlike the line in a Casting Crowns song that I often misremember as “You’re on your own, keep holding on…”

Isn’t that how we tend to live though? “Look out for yourself; take care of number one; God helps those who help themselves…” It sounds good until you start comparing it to Scripture.

• “Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God” (Isaiah 50:10 ESV). 
• “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken” (Psalm 62:5-6). 
• “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (Exodus 14:14). 
• “For the Lord your God is He who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory” (Deuteronomy 20:4). 

It is not God’s intent for us to fight alone or to hang on by our own strength. Rather, He will do the fighting and will hold onto us when we have no strength of our own. Trying to stand alone is what often leads to fear. We recognize that we are weak and we need someone bigger and stronger. Edward Welch writes in Running Scared:

“Search Scripture and find that our fears are not trivial to God. ‘Do not be afraid’ are not the words of a flesh-and-blood friend, a mere human like yourself. They are not the hollow words of a fellow passenger on a sinking ship, who has no experience in shipwrecks, can’t swim, and has no plan. These words are more like those of the captain who says, ‘Don’t be afraid. I know what to do.’ When the right person speaks these words you might be comforted. Remember, ‘Do not be afraid’ are the words of the One who can match speech with action. He is the sovereign King who really is in control. The efficacy of the words is directly related to the authority, power, and love of the One speaking them” (62).

Whether the command is “Fear not,” “Be still,” “Wait,” or “Don’t fight,” we can trust the authority of the One who is in control of every situation. He will fight for us. And because He is a good Father, He also gives us the other members of His Body to walk with us through the hills and valleys of life. We don’t need to walk alone or to fight alone.

I can’t help but think of Matt Redman’s song “Never Once,” which is a great reminder of God’s faithfulness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1bXG4WIesA

“If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me” (Psalm 139:9-10).

© 2016 Dawn Rutan.

Fear Not

I’ve read some things recently that talked about fear as a sin, and I’ve been wrestling with that thought. It seems to me that most of the scriptural admonitions to “fear not” are more a word of encouragement than a commandment. Some fears are good. We are told to fear God in honor and reverence. Fear of imminent danger moves us to take necessary action. Certainly there are some fears that are sinful. Fear of people and protecting our reputation is pride. Obsessive worry about the future reveals a lack of faith in God. It’s misleading to talk about the “sin of fear” without defining exactly what is meant, and the authors who have done so have created some unnecessary fear in people wondering if they’ve been unintentionally sinning.

Even though Jesus instructed us in Matthew 6 not to be anxious because God provides, when He spoke directly to Martha about her anxious preparations in Luke 10:41 there is no indication that He spoke harshly or that she needed to repent of sin. He certainly could have used stronger language of rebuke if He thought it necessary. In my imagination He uses a very loving and perhaps even playful tone. “Martha, forget the hors d’oeuvres and come join the party!”

For me the question of whether fear is sin or not comes down to how it motivates me to act. If it gives me a goal to work toward and the impetus to change, it’s probably a good thing. If it leads me to pray and seek God’s will more, that’s good too. But if it paralyzes me and keeps me from loving God and loving others wholeheartedly, I’ve got a problem. And if I’m obsessed with anxiety about things I have no control over, I can’t focus on doing all that God has called me to do. Then I really need to repent and cast my cares upon God and learn to trust Him with the results.

One book I read recently, which I won’t even name, commented that when we pray about something we should only pray it once and then trust God, because repeatedly asking the same thing will reveal a lack of faith. (The author later contradicted himself.) God knows our level of faith better than we do. He also knows our thoughts and desires better than we do. So if something is concerning us, we might as well talk to Him about it! We don’t have to nag Him to answer our prayers, but we need not feel ashamed to bring up a matter more than once. Can you imagine a marriage in which the spouses only talked about new issues and never repeated themselves?

The book of Isaiah contains a large number of “fear not” verses, and many are worth memorizing. Here are just a few:

• “Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you” (Isaiah 35:4 ESV).
• “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (41:10).
• “For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you” (41:13).
• “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” (43:1b-2).
• “Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides Me? There is no Rock; I know not any” (44:8).
• “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; and the Holy One of Israel if your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth He is called” (54:4-5).

So if fear and anxiety are a problem for you, look to the Scriptures and find encouragement there, since “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). The admonition to “fear not” is not intended to bring condemnation or shame, but is a reminder of the God who is in control and who loves us more than we can imagine!

“So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” –Hebrews 13:6