From Fear to Faith: Trusting in the Lord

Fear can dog our steps throughout this life, giving us no rest from its hot pursuit, Amen? And as we keep our eyes focused on our problems, they seem to grow bigger and bigger. We need to change our focus. Scripture tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith. And God tells us not to worry about our lives as He knows that fear can paralyze us, keeping us frozen and unable to go forward productively, robbing us of His best for us and all that He has in store for us – particularly His sweet peace which passes all human understanding. We forgo this when we ruminate on our problems and not our problem solver. Remember, God’s perfect love for us drives out all fear. Indeed, fear is not our friend, Jesus is. He has redeemed us, calls us by name and we are His.  

Further, throughout Scripture, over and over and over again, God commands us to “Fear not”. More often than not, easier said than done, to be sure. Our souls are to take refuge in the Lord. It is He Who made us and we are His – we are the sheep of His pasture and we can know for certain, it is He Who guards the gate. We can be confident that nothing is allowed in the lives of His heirs of mercy that has not passed through His loving Hands and that somehow, someway, it will be used both for His glory and for our good. 

God is the Provider of all for our enjoyment and He never withdraws His loving Hand. Just as the manna came morning by morning so too His abundant grace and mercy flows through His Hands to every child of the King. He loves and cares for His own so that there is no reason for us to fear. His love constantly overflows towards His children. He is our ultimate satisfaction and one never returns from Him unblessed. Also, nothing teaches us the preciousness of the Creator as the realization of the vanity and emptiness of all else besides.  

When we are fearful in our troubles we are to dwell on His Presence allowing our souls to take refuge in Him. His Presence brings forth His perfect peace which passes understanding keeping both our hearts and minds at rest in Jesus. His perfect love drives out fear. It is a peace that is unearthly in its nature. As Spurgeon wrote: “Nothing teaches us so much the preciousness of the Creator, as when we learn the emptiness of all besides.”