Walking in fear and trusting in God

I must admit that there are times when I am anxious and walk in fear.

When those times come, I know to tell myself that every person who has ever done something for the Lord will experience feelings of uneasiness as to the future - and what is going on in the present.

We know that "God is in control," and "all things work together for God."

We believe in the promises of God.

Yet we still have times of doubt and worry and well, just outright fear of what might take place.

During those times, I try to do the following:

Immerse myself in scriptures that build my "spirit man" up.

2 Timothy 1:7 is one that we talk a lot about at Stone Church, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

I also make it a point to hang out with "firelighters," or those people who when I am around them I want to put on a t-shirt that has a big "S" on it for Supernatural.

I leave there presence afraid of nothing, especially the enemy and his attacks.

I like to be with people who despite their own fears and worries - are trusting in God.

But I also fill my mind with stories like the one below. 

It exemplifies the attitude we should have when those anxious moments come - that we can stand firm in our faith.

We need to be like the 84 year old grandmother who fiercely maintained her independence and lived alone in the family home.

Her 4 children lived in the same town, but she rarely called them except in emergencies.  It was with some apprehension, therefore, that one of her sons drove to her house one morning in answer to her phone call.

When he arrived, she said she suspected that there was a burglar in her bedroom closet, since she had heard noises in there the night before.

"Why didn't you call me last night?" he exclaimed.

"Well," she replied, "it was late and I hated to bother you, so I just nailed the closet shut and went to bed."

That's the kind of attitude we can have when faced with anxious moments in our lives.

Nail the door of fear shut and go to bed in calm assurance.

I encourage you, as you go to sleep this evening, give your worries to God - he's going to be up all night anyway.

Just a thought for a Thursday.