I have often heard it said that “Fear not” is in the Bible 365 times. One for every day of the year. I haven’t counted it myself but let it be said that it is apparently in there a lot! I never considered myself a particularly fearful person. Especially when I started walking with Jesus on a consistent daily basis. I learned pretty early on in my walk to pray about things and let Him work them out. But the past few years have changed that for me in some ways. Dealing with some loss in my life, some circumstances beyond my control and just some things that naturally change in life as we age changed that for me. I found myself becoming more of a worrier and with that brought on fear and anxiety that sometimes would become so overwhelming I would think I had to remind myself to breathe.
This week I am going to look at some verses on fear and see if we can see where we are to put that in light of our walk with Jesus. If it is important enough for God to include it 365 times. It is important enough for us to look at it for a week. After we look at Fear, I want to spend some time looking at Faith, Trust and Peace.
First let me explain I became a Christian in my teens. But I didn’t really understand what it was like to walk with Jesus daily until my young adult years. I was a young mama who needed some adult interaction and I started attending ladies bible studies at my church where my kids could have a couple of hours to play with other children and I could have a couple of hours to be with other women. If I am being honest that was my main reason for jumping into those Tuesday morning bible studies. But God, knew what I really needed more than I did. I learned in those times that I needed to learn how to walk with Jesus and through the guidance of these women I started learning what that looked like and what that would mean for me.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6
Early on in my walk with Jesus I took this verse to heart. I started praying about everything right down to my budget when I went to the grocery store. And I saw Jesus answer many prayers for me. I would pray for His guidance in what to buy, I would ask him to lead me in my conversations and I would ask for protection and I believed Him for every bit of it. I still believe it today. I can tell you that.
So why do I let the fear and anxiety creep in sometimes to my thought processes? The only answer I can come up with to that question is that sometimes things really don’t work out the way we want them to. People do get sick and they pass away. Friends, family or sometimes ourselves do get that diagnosis or illness that we prayed wouldn’t be. Sometimes our children break our hearts. Sometimes jobs are lost or the work environment changes for the worse not for the better. Life, death and the day to day get in our way of not being anxious. But this is the thing, sometimes our prayers can’t be for God to fix it for us but just to carry it through it. And that’s where I know I am safe. No matter what comes in this life, I can keep reminding myself that I don’t have to be anxious that even if He doesn’t deliver me from it, He will deliver me through it. I will still lose people, I will still have disappointments but I can lay my requests down to Him and let Him see me through them.
Oh sweet Lord, you know what we may be fearing today. But we are going to choose to lay them all down to you today.
Restore 