When I am afraid, I will put my trust and faith in You. Psalms 56:3 AMP
The Inspiration:
It is a season of fear. Anywhere you are in the world, there are things to both excite you as well as others to discourage you. You read the news and you see just how busy the devil is in trying to turn the world upside down. But you also hear accounts of God's dealings with men and these stories encourage your heart to hold on to God. All of these means that fear is an human reality. There is a good version as well as a bad version. Fear is defined as 'an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.' Fear is that expectation that something evil is about to happen. The unfortunate thing is that that evil thing may never happen, yet fear can so grip a man's heart that it will prevent the man from being able to do anything to help his situation. This is the bad version of fear, and it usually leads to depression. Is there anything weighing so heavily on my heart that it is keeping me from being all God wants me to be?
The Contention:
And then there is the good kind of fear, the type that constantly reminds me that God is in charge of my life, and nothing about me can escape his attention. This is a God with total and absolute knowledge about me; one who knows all the days appointed for me, even before one of them came to pass. Even in the face of the daunting challenges of the times we are in now, God continues to prove that He is in charge of the universe He has created. There will be times when you are tempted to think that God has lost control, but if you know God on a personal level, you know that no one can determine what tomorrow holds if God does not reveal it. This is the God who wants me to trust Him completely, not partially. It does not pay one bit to come to God with half-hearted devotion. Don't fool yourself by offering Him a sacrifice that is not from your whole heart. It is this good fear that drives a man to seek God on a constant basis, and not just when you need something. Seeking God becomes equally as important as eating.
The Conclusion:
And as David the writer of the verse above has made quite clear here, when the bad fear comes, I must let the good fear drive me to seek God. It is almost impossible to make the bad fear go away completely, but it must keep driving you toward the One who said in some places in His Word: "Do Not Fear". He who spoke these words knows me, so before the bad fear can take root, I must remind myself of all the times God has asked me to come to Him. Like David, it is important to put my trust and faith in the Lord. Where else would I want to put my trust? Is it in weapons that can kill both the user and the target? Is it in high fences that cannot keep out disease and death? Is it in men, who cannot even guarantee that they will see tomorrow? If you have tried all the above, and you still do not have peace, try God. He has never put to shame anyone who trusts in Him. He is able to keep safe whatever is committed into His hand. God's time of favour is here.
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