Take Your Cue from Fear and Trust God

I spent the first eight and a half years of my life in the beautiful state of Alaska.  My family lived fifty miles from the nearest town and a mile down a dirt road, off the Alaska Highway.  We had those old crank phones.  We never locked our doors.  About the only thing I feared was coming up on a bear while playing in the woods.  It truly was a wonderful place to grow up!

 

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However, that all changed when we packed up our belongings and moved to California.  We settled into a tiny home on a busy street with cars roaring up and down at all hours of the day and night.  I would awaken in the night, gripped with fear thinking someone had invaded our house only to realize it was just the furnace coming on.  

 

 

My world was turned upside down.  

 

Fear stalked me like a lion seeking prey, ready to pounce at any moment. It was a paralyzing terror that threatened to overwhelm me, especially in the dark hours of the night. 

 

One day my mom shared a verse with me to encourage me in my struggle and it became my mantra. 

 

. . .  When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.  Psalm 56.3

 

I would lay in my bed, saying this verse over and over and over.  Hoping that it would magically remove the fear in my heart and let me sleep.  Even though I quoted this verse endlessly, it never quite seemed to work.  My fear was just as palpable as before. 

 

I thought those words were magic.  That if I said them in just the right way, with just the right inflection than my fear would be gone.   I believed that these were the code words to release me from my fear.   
 

 God’s words aren’t “magic” but they are TRUTH. 
 

I was missing something and that “something” was my action.  It’s not enough just to say the words over and over.  I needed to replace my fear with Trust.  I needed to believe it, act on it, and live it.

  

Trust takes practice.  It's hard work and it never comes easy.

 

It’s easy to fear.  It’s easy to take control.  It’s easy to be self-focused.

 

A few years ago, I once again, found myself living in world of fear with my children.  I was consumed with anxiety over what they were doing and what they would become.  The more control I took the more out of control I felt.  I was overwhelmed.  In that place of fear, God asked me to surrender them to Him; to let go of the control and trust Him.  As I pried my fingers off the lives of my children and learned to release them to Him, God filled me with His perfect peace.

 

Over the years, I have had to surrender them over and over to the God who loves them even more than I do.  It hasn’t been easy.  Truthfully, it’s been a lot of hard work because I have a tendency to take them back again and again.  But as I’ve worked on this area of trust, it has gotten easier, and I respond quicker. 

Once again, I’m faced with dread as my son heads off to Afghanistan with the military.  I can let fear invade my life and stalk me like a lion or I can choose to Trust. 
 

I know that in the upcoming months it will be easy to let fear raise its ugly head in life.  But fear is God’s reminder to me to trust Him.

 

I no longer need to quote words from the Bible with my fingers crossed hoping that they work.  I choose to take God at His word and trust Him with my children, my life and my salvation. 

 

How about you?  Are you living in a world of fear?  Are you LIVING by trust or by anxiety and worry?

 

Let fear be your cue to TRUST!

 

Streams in the Wasteland

I have been on a journey of prayer and fasting for the past forty days.  It has been a powerful experience in my life.  My expectations of what God would do and what He actually has done are in stark contrast with one another.   I haven’t had huge momentous mind blowing moments but as I look back on these days, I see God reforming me.  Remaking me.

 

Isaiah 43.18-19 (NIV) says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a NEW thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” 

God is doing a NEW thing, in my life, as I learn to sit in His presence and wait on Him.  If you had asked me before all this happened if I had a prayer life I would’ve unequivocally said, “YES!”   

But as I’ve traveled this road of waiting and stillness, I have sensed that my prayer life has been a wasteland of distraction, confusion, and disillusionment.  It’s been too easy to let other things take precedence (even good things).  It’s been too easy to let doubt creep in and keep me from falling on my knees before God.  It’s been too easy to allow busyness to overthrow my life and never carve out moments to sit in His presence. 

These forty days have compelled me to forge new habits, instill new practices and change old behaviors.   

I find myself falling to my knees on a regular basis, turning off the radio in the car and spending time with Him in the stillness and quietness of my drive.  I carve out time when I’m the busiest to meet with Him, knowing that I need Him most in those moments.  I wake up and invite God into my day and on it goes.  What was I doing before?  So much wasted time!  So much squandered energy!  

BUT, God is doing a NEW thing in my life.  It is springing up out of the wasteland of my feeble prayer life.   

 

Isn’t that what God does best?   The impossible!  Life from death.  Hope from despair.  Joy from sorrow.   Beauty from ashes. 

 

Have you made bad decisions that have left your life a wasteland?  Are you sitting in the ruins of a wasted life wondering if there is any hope?  Take heart!   

 

God is the God of the impossible!  Nothing is too big for Him.  

“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history.  Be alert, be present.  I’m about to do something brand-new.  It’s bursting out!  Don’t you see it?  There it is!  I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.”                        (Isaiah 43.18-19 MSG)

He is doing a NEW thing!  Do you perceive it?   

Lord, give us eyes to see!  Ears to hear!  Feet that will follow!  And hearts open to the work of Your surgeon hands.  May we never forget what You have done.  May we continue to follow in Your ways. Keep us faithful to the end.  Amen.

  

The Difficult Path

Have you ever made a decision that you prayed about and felt strongly that it was where God was leading you only to experience difficulty after difficulty once you made the decision?  Maybe you felt strongly that you should switch jobs but when you did you got let go just months later?  Maybe you purchased a car and had the transmission blow just weeks after you got it?

 

It's so easy to wonder . . . Did I hear God right?  I must’ve made a mistake and stepped out of the “will of God”.

 

Nehemiah could so easily have questioned if he had made the right choice to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls.  It seemed smooth sailing at first.  He had asked the king if he could go and the king heartily agreed and sent him with supplies and a cavalry for protection.  But once he arrived in Jerusalem he faced difficulty after difficulty.  First it was the enemy from outside the walls of Jerusalem and then it was from those who were within the walls.  How exhausted and weary he must have become and how easy it would’ve been for him to wonder if he’d made the right decision.  But he didn’t!  He stayed focused on the task that he believed God had called him to and he let nothing deviate him from it.

 

Why do we allow hardship and struggle to eat away at our faith?  Why do we question God’s will when we face heartache and difficulty?

 

Could it be that we believe that if we’re in the “will of God” that are path will be smooth?  Do we secretly believe that God is our great Santa-in-the-Sky and if we somehow are able to discern what He wants than all will be well?  Are we trying to make God into our image?

 

Who can know the will of God?  We can!  The Bible clearly states what God’s will is for us.

 

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. 

Romans 12.1-2 (MSG)

 

We get so focused on our own comfort and ease that we neglect what God is really calling us to – a life devoted to Him.

 

Nehemiah kept his heart and mind focused on God.  He was in relationship with him.  He sought God every step of the way and so for Nehemiah, the path was clear, even though it was littered with difficulty.  He knew where to step.  He saw God’s hand and He trusted.

 

Are you disillusioned because you thought you were doing what God wanted you to do and facing opposition at every turn?  Have you taken your eyes off what you should be focusing on – your God, not your circumstances. 


Seek Him.  Trust Him.  Don’t turn away.  God is in the mess.  He is using the heartache, struggles and difficulties to deepen your faith and make you stronger. 

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If you were to look back at your life and measure the times of spiritual growth, you will most likely find that the times of greatest growth were the times of greatest difficulties.   Why?  Because struggle strengthens us and ease weakens us.

 

So . . . Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  (Ephesians 6.10)  Rejoice always.  Pray continually.  Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  (1 Thessalonians 5.16-18)

 

Are You Ready to Give Up?

 

I am in a season of fasting and praying, seeking God, waiting on Him.  I’ve committed to forty days and am currently at the half-way point.  And I confess, it would be easy to quit.

 

I had expectations of what my prayer and fasting would be like.  That God would somehow be more real, I would see Him more clearly and I would have a heightened sense of His presence as He directed my every waking step.

 

But to be honest, God has remained quiet.  I haven’t heard an audible voice, haven’t experienced any great miracles (except that I’ve remained faithful in my fasting), and have received no clear direction as to what He wants me to do or where He wants me to go.  In fact, this road has been littered with tragedy.  The problems have seemed bigger and my God seems quieter.

 

It would be so easy to give up, to call it quits and throw in the towel.

 

But Noah kept building the ark when there wasn’t any rain.  The Israelites continued to circle Jericho even though nothing had happened.  Paul kept preaching The Way even though it meant imprisonment. Daniel kept praying even though he was destined for the lion’s den.  Nehemiah pressed on building the wall even in the face of much opposition.

 

So why should I give up? 

 

I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire.  He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.  He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God.  Psalm 40.1-3 (NLT)

 

What if Noah had given up building the ark?  What if the Israelites had only circled Jericho six times?  What if Paul had let fear keep him from preaching the truth?  What if Daniel had given in to peer pressure?  What if Nehemiah had turned tail and run back home?

 

They would’ve missed out!  And their faith?  Would’ve been small.

 

Instead they were able to witness the mighty power of God.  And their faith?  It was supersized!

 

What about you?  Are you tempted to give up or give in?  Are you wondering if God is really there?  Is He listening to your heart cry?  Does He really care about little insignificant you? 

 

 

Have you prayed so long for the burden of your heart that you feel hopeless?  "Will God ever answer my prayer?"  You wonder in the emptiness of your soul.

 

Don’t give up.  Don’t Give in.  Keep pressing on.  Keep praying through.  Let God grow your faith.

 

If you throw in the towel now, you might just miss an opportunity to witness His great power!

 

But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, “The Lord is great!”       As for me, since I am poor and needy, let the Lord keep me in his thoughts. You are my helper and my savior. O my God, do not delay.   Psalm 40. 16-17 (NLT)

 

Lord, I am weak, feeble minded, poor in spirit.  I want to Quit.  Give up.  Walk away.  But You call me to trust You even when I can’t see.  So I refuse to give up.  Strengthen my resolve.  Give me hope.  Grow my faith.  I look to You.  Amen.

 

 

Out of the Box!

For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird on the mountains and all the animals of the field are mine.  Psalm 50.10-11

 

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When I pray, do I pray as if my God owns a cattle on a thousand hills?   Or more like He has a few coins in his pocket He can give me?  Do I really believe my God is resource rich or hopelessly poor?

 

If you were to hear my prayers you might think the latter.

 

I find myself praying hesitantly, crossing my fingers and hoping that God will answer.  I don't ask for too much and I rarely step out in faith believing He will answer.  It isn’t really that I don’t believe God can do what I’m asking but more will He do it?  But, is this just an excuse so that I don’t look like a fool when God doesn’t come through for me?  I wonder . . .

 

How does God wish I would pray?  What is His heart’s desire?

 

I confess my tendency to put God in a box.  I want Him Small.  Convenient.  Controllable.  I want Him to wipe away my tears, love me unconditionally and soften the jagged edges of my life.  I don’t want Him to ask me to do something that makes me uncomfortable, or to go someplace I have no desire to go or put me out on a limb that might very well break! 

 

But is that really what I want?  A God who is safe, mediocre and blasé?   

 

I wonder . . . Would that God have even bothered to send His only Son to die for me so that I could have eternal life, true life?

 

It’s time to let God out of the box! 

 

God is bigger than I will ever understand.  Greater than I can ever imagine and more powerful than a locomotive!  He’s my true Superhero!  So what is keeping me from praying Superhero prayers?

 

When I believe little, my prayers are little and God answers little.  When I believe BIG, my prayers are BIG and my God answers BIG.

 

My God owns a cattle on a thousand hills.  He knows every hair on my head.  He hung the stars in space and calls them each by name.  He formed the dry land with a word.  He tells the wind where to blow.  He never slumbers or sleeps.  He dresses the flowers and knows every bird.  He is intimately acquainted with all my ways. 

 

God is out of my box!

 

Lord, I’m sorry for making you small.  You are so much more! . . .  I want to spend the rest of my life discovering Your greatness.   Today, I’m letting You out of the box that I placed You in.  I want to believe Big because You are Big.  Teach me.  I’m Yours.  Amen.