I’ve been waking up several mornings over the last few weeks very early in the morning (3 – 4:00 AM) from a perfectly fine sleep
with my mind running like a race car out of control……
“Oh yes…I need to call that guy and set up an appointment….and I need to move some money over to checking so the house note won’t be late …and I need to put up the weather stripping on the old windows…” I try to get this all under control and get back to sleep, but after lying there for a few minutes the next wave comes…” Oh man, I forgot about that prescription, it’s $ 160.00 a month AFTER my insurance and I just can’t afford that … the stock market is falling AGAIN…oh yeah and I think that guy is mad at me and how do I need to handle that ??…” ….sound familiar?
I really hope not. Truly I do.
But there’s no question that fear, real gut wrenching, stomach churning, sleep missing, hand wringing fear seems to be in no short supply in these times we are living in. It permeates much of life – our jobs, the economy, our finances, our health, the global mess we see every night on the news.
I think sometimes that we live in the most tumultuous times ever. But then I think about all the terrible times throughout history – plagues, diseases: smallpox, typhoid, influenza, cholera, and influenza, so many others. The great financial breakdowns, the terrible natural disasters, the great wars and conflicts, famines, so many hardand awful things and events.
And then I think about when Jesus lived, and how those times were, living in a land occupied by a foreign army, poverty, disease, people possessed by demons. Yet Jesus was never overcome by all that. He kept reminding us that we could have peace in the storm, that we could have a different peace than the world offers:
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives
do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the
world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
So WHY am I so afraid?? Why am I feeling all this fear?
I have decided that all this fear is ultimately tied to my unbelief…the unbelief that would undermine my whole life if I let it. It’s the fear that God is NOT who he says He is, and that He won’t do what He says He will. That in the end I can’t trust Him, that He will let me fall. He sees the sparrow but He doesn’t see me…or doesn’t want to.
Or worst of all, God may demand something from me I don’t want to give….my life, my money, my comfort, my security. Or maybe some SUFFERING…I don’t seem to be into suffering very much these days…
So… what am I trying to say here ??
I’m saying that there has always been, and will always be trouble in this world. Jesus warned us about that.
Thus I have gone back to my original deal with God, the one I made with Him when I got saved, when I said I wanted to follow Him and for Him to do what He wanted in my life., and we’ll see how that goes. Obviously, at the time I wasn’t even sure what that meant. Well, I know now. And the deal still stands. He is God, and I am not, and that’s how we’ll proceed. Let’s go back to where all this began.
And I am making up my mind that I’m going to stand up to all this fear, wherever it comes from, and keep moving, keep following Him, keep pressing to see His Kingdom come, not mine. I’m good with that.
I invite you to join me, to remember your deal….it’s probably a lot like mine. In fact, I suspect there’s only one deal. But it’s the right one. And here are some of the reminders that I need; we all need to stand, to push back, and to remember who He is and consequently, who WE are.
To quote my friend Gordon, “Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior is strong, and weak in no way.” He was, is , and will always be the Rock.
So I have climbed back up on the Rock. It’s better up here. A lot better. Come join me, there’s room for us all.
Psalm 27:3
Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.
Psalm 91:5
You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day.
Isaiah 35:4
Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, He will come with vengeance; with divine retribution He will come to save you.”
Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Romans 8:15
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”