by @devotionals_by_pareeeee
“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 righteousness.” – Isaiah 41:10
Fear and worry can grip us in many different ways. Maybe the bills are piling up, there’s an upcoming surgery, a sick relative, or a project we forgot was due tomorrow. Perhaps you experience general anxiety or depression and you dread leaving your home. Whether the object of our fear is small or large, it can become vastly overwhelming when the flesh latches onto it. Fear can invade our minds and take up residence in the forefront of our thoughts. Not only is it unhealthy for our mental wellbeing, but these thoughts can take away our ability to fellowship with the Lord.
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” – 2 Timothy 1:7
The enemy wants us to hold onto fear and worry. They tell us we can’t trust God to help us through it. They fool us into thinking that instead of giving our burden to the Lord, we should take matters into our own hands. That it’s safer to do it our way. They whisper “yea, hath God truly said?” in our ears. And if we listen, we succumb to overwhelming fear and worry.
Anything that questions God’s promises is not of God. Anything that would cause us to say “yes, but” is the same as saying “yea, hath God truly said?”. God is not the author of confusion, and worry, stress and fear breeds confusion.
“In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.” – Psalm 71:1-2
“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 sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.” – Psalm 46:1-3
Taking matters into our own hands does not prevent bad things from happening, it just increases our stress because the burden is solely on our own shoulders, crushing us under its incredible weight. Sometimes the Lord will spare us from a trial but if we are meant to go through it, it’s better to go through it with the Lord than by ourselves. We are to lay our burdens on Jesus Christ so that He can help us through the tough times, so they won’t break us.
“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
“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” – Psalm 55:22
But I’ve waited on the Lord before, and nothing happened. Did we stop waiting when “it took too long” or seemed too risky? Did we pray and search the scriptures for an answer? When it came down to the wire, when it seemed hopeless, did we give up and take matters into our own hands, taking the burden off of the Lord’s shoulders and placing it back onto our own? Don’t just trust Him when it’s convenient, trust Him when the way ahead seems impossible (it usually means it is – for us) because that’s when He makes a way that we could never have predicted. In the lion’s den, Daniel knew; in the ark, Noah knew; before Goliath, David knew: there is nothing God cannot do. They still went through a trial, but they went through it with confidence instead of fear.
“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.” – Proverbs 29:25
Stop trying to control every aspect of your life. Give God the chance to help you, guide you and keep you.
“I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” – Psalm 34:4
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