Psalm 56:3 “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”
What does it take to make you fear? My family was considering this topic one night, and my daughter decided on spiders while Weston, my youngest son, decided that he was afraid of the dark. I noted to them that the bravest people I know are the people who have the most to fear. Really, how brave must one be to squish a spider? On the other hand, a brave man may face literal danger and have a real reason to fear.
Bravery is not the absence of fear. For Christians, bravery is the presence of faith. In other words, courage is doing what is right, even though it may frighten you. Every day you live, you have a choice of living in fear or living in faith. The problem is, fear comes naturally, but faith does not. When you, by your own will, involve God in your fears, that is faith. But ultimately the choice is on your head.
Faith is not the absence of problems or brushing things off as “no big deal.” I can brush off my kids’ fears of spiders and the dark, but I can’t do that with some things that scare me! Verse 4 says, “In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.” Faith doesn’t mean saying, “People can’t do anything to me.” That is foolish-of course they can! (In fact, most of your fears, like most of your problems, come back to people.) What David said is that he would “not fear what flesh can do unto me” because “in God [he] had put [his] trust.”
The truth is, people can do things to cause you to fear. Has anyone ever twisted your own words against you (verse 5)? Have people gathered together against you (verse 6a)? Have you ever had the feeling someone was watching you like a hawk (verse 6b)? All these things can cause you to fear from the moment you wake up. But you have a choice to either live in fear or live in faith.
Why live in faith? Because God knows (verse 8) and hears (verse 9). You can have confidence because He knows every problem and every tear you may cry over it. What tremendous courage, when you have done what is right, to say like David, “For God is for me”! Whenever you are faced with fear, remember that the choice is yours. Will it be fear or faith?
Prayer Requests:
1. Evangelists Wil Rice and Tim Thompson in the Philippines with Missionary Bob Himes and others (Jan. 5-18)
2. Praise–78 people trusted Christ during last week’s NYC Outreach!