Faith and Fear

 

 

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. Psalm 56:3

 

Do you ever just get scared of the future because what if God doesn’t fix this problem?

I have recently found myself in a state of fear over the future of our country, physically and politically.

I am afraid for my grandchildren. I am afraid they won’t be able to work, eat well, and live freely. I am afraid that there will be wicked, powerful, people in control and there will be no way to stop what is happening.

And then came COVID 19!

What I can stop is my fearful thinking. I have come to a point where I understand, without a doubt, that God is in control. My worry will change nothing. However, if I demonstrate faith, that could change a lot.

Five (soon to be six) little sets of eyes and ears see my fear and hear my words every day. They respond to the way the adults around them are responding to the world. They know we are unhappy about the current political scene and the way the corona virus is affecting more than our health. They know we are concerned about the economy and the murder of babies at abortion mills.

We talk about these things. They listen to every word.

It takes a conscious effort to point others to God’s sovereignty, mercy, and grace when things are looking difficult. In Psalm 56:4 David was running from the Philistines in Gath (where Goliath came from, 1 Samuel 17:4). He said, “In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.”

I think that his willingness to praise God was one of the reasons that he was able trust God as he faced such a terrible set of circumstances. Hard times did not make David resent God or get angry with Him. Hard times caused David to remember that God was where his help would come from! He praised God for it.

In our minds and hearts, when we are afraid, if we can remember to praise God, by remembering the reasons He is worthy of praise, we will have peace.

Over and over again God tells us to “Remember.” When we remember what He has done for us in the past, we are better able to trust Him with our future and young ears will hear the praise of God, not the fear of man or illness….regardless of the politics of the moment.

God is great. He is always good. He works things out for the good of His people. He is generous, gracious, merciful, forgiving, protective and the bearer of so many more attributes that we do not have space to put them all on paper.

Will you trust His goodness, speak of it openly to share your faith? Is there a neighbor for you to love through this time in some practical way?

The alternative is to worry (or obsess) over circumstances that are out of our control.

We need to wash our hands, love our neighbors, learn what we can, and trust our Savior  to see us through.