Every few nights the past weeks my 4-year-old has been waking up with bad dreams. She doesn't wake up screaming, she doesn't lose all sense of composure from terror. She simply wakes up, finds me (sometimes I'm still awake, sometimes she ends up scaring ME awake), says "I had a bad dream," and then stays with me until her peace returns and she can go back to bed. Sometimes I only have to say, "It's ok, daddy's here and God is watching over us" and she goes right back down. Sometimes she lays with me for a while until she drifts off and I can put her back (don't judge me, but I can't sleep with kids in the bed!).
Every single time she ends up sleeping the rest of the night and then wakes up fine. She doesn't dwell on what happened, she doesn't let it sit with her. She trusts me and lets it go.
In this she shows that she understands better than most adults what trust is, and what God is like.
When I was about 20 years old I was reading Matthew 6 and Jesus' words hit me like a freight train.
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown in the fire, will he not much more clothe you-- you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." - Matthew 6: 25-34|
Something in these words stuck with me, and I knew that in these words was a key to life. Something that at the time I couldn't even put words to. So from that moment on I decided that I was going to make it a point in my life to not worry about things. It was one of the most empowering decisions I have ever made.
As a result I was able to make decisions that were scary and never feel the weight of them. Something, just by making that decision, switched in me and I grew in confidence and saw some amazing things happen in my life as a result of not being fearful.
But to be honest, it didn't last. Anyone who knows me knows that for a few years I didn't really walk with the Lord. I never stopped believing, but I wasn't pursuing God either. And while I appeared to be "worry-free" to many people, the truth was I had simply moved my fear. I didn't fear much for my own health or success, but I feared a lot about where my country was headed, if people liked me, etc... I had a lot of worry and fear, but I was adept at disguising it.
So what's the point? The point is that it's impossible to fully live a life without fear unless you have Christ and you are constantly going back to Him.
Simple right? Yup.
So why are we so dominated by fear? Church, I'm talking to YOU.
One of the amazing things about fear is that when you are fearful you become so good at disguising it. Scared about where the country is headed? Nah, I'm PASSIONATE for change. Fearful that famous Christian who disagrees with you on a small theological point is leading others astray? Nope, I'm "defending the Gospel." Terrified your grown kid is making a bad decision so you try to control them? Not at all! I'm "doing what's best for them." Afraid to take risk in life so you belittle the successes of others? Of course not! I'm "just a realist." Petrified you're going to get sick so you try to control every single aspect of your diet? Whatever, I'm just "choosing a healthy lifestyle."
Heard that before or something similar? Of course you have. It's come out of your own mouth. Don't lie to yourself and deny it, because you know it's true. Look, I'm just as guilty as you! I've excused my fear so many times it's sickening, especially because I truly believed the words coming out of my mouth in my denial.
But then a few years ago something happened. That Jesus I'd been reading about and occasionally hearing from led me straight on into encounter with Him. He gave me a choice, and when I said yes He led me to know Him in an intimate way I never imagined possible. He showed me how I could find Him every day and live near Him every moment. He made Himself more real to me than I ever believed possible on earth, and as that realization grew and continues growing I found something amazing: Fear gets further and further away.
On top of that, it becomes so much easier to spot. Want a fear-fest? Spend 10 minutes on Facebook. People terrified for our country will post their political fears. People afraid for health will share their health tips. And the list goes on. Are most of these good people? Absolutely! Are they wrong? Most of the time no. But it doesn't always matter what is being said but how it's being said.
Signs of fear:
"{Blank} causes cancer!"
"{Blank} is ruining the country!"
"{Blank} is preaching heresy!"
"{Blank} will happen to you if you don't {blank}"
Signs of healthy thinking:
"{Blank} helps your health!"
"{Blank} will help our country get back on track!"
"{Blank} in the Bible is amazing truth!"
"{Blank} is helping all kinds of people!
The truth is that almost all negativity is a sign of fear. Why? Because negativity promotes hopelessness. Negativity breeds hate. Negativity tries to destroy in order to set things right. Hopelessness is the exact opposite of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13). Hate is the opposite of Love (God, 1 John 4:8)). Destruction is a characteristic of the devil (John 10:10). You cannot go to God and walk away discouraged (Rom. 15:5). It is impossible. So any idea that discourages is NEVER from Him.
Church, we have ignoring the command of Jesus to not worry for far too long! And it IS a command, not wishful thinking. We have taken our trust away from God and given it to the devil. By fearing we are putting our faith in brokenness and not in the healer. This does not mean we ignore the world's problems, which are very real, but that we filter them through the perspective of God.
And through that perspective, we will always be encouraged, always find joy, always be strengthened, and always focus on solutions.
If we are to regain our influence in the world we must learn to be the most hopeful people alive yet again. We must take Jesus at His words! His words tell us that we will be fine and that God is working in the world to take care of us (Rom. 8:28).
It's time to put fear in its place, once and for all, and in doing so find greater freedom and joy than we've ever known! The good news is that it is so EASY too. The grace of Christ made it easy. He sent us His Spirit and says, "If you get scared, there's my door. Come get me."
To be honest, sure, it still pops its ugly head up and I have to squash it. Sure sometimes I let it hang around a little too long. But I'm learning how to notice it, wake myself up, go to my Daddy and tell Him, "Daddy I'm scared." And when I go to Him, He tells me, "It's ok, everything will be alright." Then He invites me to stay there until I get my peace back. I'm learning all over again what my daughter already knows, and it's a wonderful thing. I invite you to embrace Him too. He's warm, He's loving, He's safe, and the closer we get to Him the easier it is to say, "What on earth was I ever afraid for?"
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