Afraid? Trust!
There are many fears that we have in this world. For some, it is the fear of death. For others, it may be fear of the dark. I know some people who are terrified of spiders. Some have a fear of flying. There is the fear of rejection, being alone, the economy, food shortages, and as you can see, the list is endless.
For the child of God, there is never a reason to fear. And if we do, there is hope. Our hope is in God.
David had enemies that fought him as he lived his life. The Philistines had taken him captive in Gath. As he talks to God, he said these very important words, “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.” Psalm 56:3 (NASB) David never wavered knowing that God would be there for him. During the times of fearfulness in his life, he put his trust in God. What a wonderful lesson that is for you and me today.
As I was thinking about this, I thought of some great men in the Bible. Consider Joshua for a moment. He is now leading the Israelites to the promised land. Moses has been their leader for 40 years, ever since he led them out of Egyptian captivity. Now, Joshua will be their leader. God encouraged Joshua to be courageous, very courageous, in Joshua chapter 1. As he took on this responsibility, he would need the courage to be the leader God wanted him to be. He succeeded in leading them, and they inherited all of Canaan’s land that God had promised years ago to Abraham.
The apostle Paul faced many persecutions and hardships as he began to preach the living Jesus to the nations. While he was in Corinth, God told him not to be afraid, for He had many people in this city. He remained there and preached for one year and six months. (Acts 18:9-11) And there are many others that we could mention, but space is limited.
Sometimes our fears cause us to go into a “comfort zone” that we never want to leave. Have you ever been there? Are you there now? We can all do as David prayed to God in Psalm 56:3. When we have our God with us, we can do anything.
The key is to be pleasing to God. We must obey His Word. In the New Testament, we know we are to believe in Jesus (John 8:24), repent of our sins (Acts 2:38), confess Him before men (Acts 8:37) and be baptized to be forgiven of our sins (Acts 22:16). Then, we are to live faithfully till death takes us from this world (Revelation 2:10b). When we are obeying God and His Word, when we are afraid, then we can put our trust in Him and know assuredly that He is with us.