When I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not fear.   Psalm 56:3-4 HCSB

If you tell me that you are never afraid, I will be forced to call you a liar. We all experience some fear at times. We all have times that we are anxious or worried about what our future holds. There was a time in my life when I was that way a lot. But, I have gotten into a really close relationship with the One who holds my future. I know now that I have no reason to fear, but when I do fear, I know who to turn to. It’s very important to have that go-to person.

We all need someone to whom we can turn in times of trouble. We all need a problem solver. We all need someone that can hold us accountable. We need someone that we can trust to be there to pick us up when we fall. We need someone that we can give our worries and our cares over to and be able to let them go. We are told in 1 Peter 5:7 that we can cast all of our anxiety on Him because He cares for us. Philippians 4:6 tells us that we should not worry about anything but that we should pray and bring our troubles along with our thanksgiving to Him and He will give us a peace that surpasses understanding.

I want to ask you today, how do you handle fear? Do you bite your nails? Do you shake in your boots? Do you hide under the covers? Do you have a go-to person that listens to you and makes you feel better? I used to first handle fear by wondering what I could do about it. If I felt I couldn’t solve it, then I had a go-to person for each situation so I would go to that person. However, when the problem was too big for me or any other mere mortal to resolve, I had to trust in God. I had to turn to Him and give it all over to Him. I soon learned that it became a bigger problem if I tried to take it back or hold on to part of it. I had to learn to let it all go. I am still learning that today. There are still times when I fear. I have gotten to a point where He is my go-to person. But the problem I still have is that I sometimes think He needs my help, silly me! When I try to help Him I am only getting in the way.

Our scripture passage today is so simple, but it can bring so much peace to your life. If we could just learn to give it all over to God and trust in Him, we could live with a lot less fear and anxiety. We serve a God who wants us to love Him and live our lives according to His purpose so that He can work all things out for our good (Romans 8:28). We serve a God that has good plans for us and wants good things for us (Jeremiah 29:11). Why would we not turn everything over to Him? Why would we go to anyone else? Jesus is all we need. When we focus on Him, He handles our day to day issues and provides all we need (Matthew 6:33).

If you are experiencing fear and anxiety about anything in your life, know that this is unnecessary. Know that you can just turn it all over to Him. You can trust Him to do what is best for you. Years ago, I asked God for a certain job and I set about working and doing what I needed to do to get it. I didn’t get it. I thought that God had abandoned me. I couldn’t understand why I didn’t get this job after I had worked so hard for several years. I did everything right. I prayed every step of the way. I felt that all the work I had done had been approved by God so why didn’t he let me get what I wanted? I prayed and He told me that He wanted me to stay where I was. So, I did. God used all that hard work many years later. He had a better plan all along. Only after 15 years did I realize that if I had gotten that job, it would have not been good for me. I would have had to work an additional ten years before retiring. I would have been working when my little niece was sick and almost died and I was needed to sit with her in the hospital. I would have still been working when my Dad got sick and was dying. I would have missed spending each day with him in his last months. God had provided my every need. His plan was so much better than mine. I have learned that when I fear to just give it to God. He’s got this! Have no fear. Just trust in Him.

Have a great day!