Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
No person on this side of eternity lives a fear-free life. No one always operates out of the rest and security of faith in God. Every one of us has moments in which we lose our mind and our way. So here is the thing we must fight against: we must not allow fear to become the lens through which we view life and the guide for how we make decisions.
One Sunday morning our pastor was concluding a study from the book of Judges that focused on Samson’s life and his eventual demise because of his lifelong struggle with lust. As he summed up Samson’s decision-making process, a faulty one to be sure most of the time, our pastor made a statement that started me thinking deeply about how individuals fall prey to sin and temptation in large part because they feel through their problems rather than think biblically through them.
Don’t Give In To Doubt And Fear
Unpacking a bit from this biblical character’s eventual slavery and then death, I wondered how often I allow the words, “I feel…I feel…” to be spoken when I would fare much better saying (and thinking), “It is written. It is written.” After all, Jesus countered Satan’s temptations not by his emotions but by repeating what God had said.
On the way home from the service and well into the afternoon, I kept reflecting on the news our close friends received not so long ago. Their child had been struggling in school and they finally had her tested. To their shock and dismay, the tests determined their little girl had a low I.Q. So low, in fact, that it was a very real possibility that their daughter would never be able to live independently from them.
For Every “I Feel” There Is An “It Is Written”
As our friends began to work through this devastating news, I watched them move from fear and anxiety as the unknown future gave way to the what if questions for which there aren’t any answers to finally, a calm, settledness. Since I almost always picture myself in my friends’ situations and contemplate how I would handle what they are facing, I was eager to ask them how they worked through their shock, worry, and fears of the future. What they said amazed me. “For every, ‘I feel…’ there is an, ‘It is written,’ found in scripture. Our responsibility is to run to the promises of God so that our emotions don’t run us to the ground.
Never Forget God’s Past Faithfulness
It is written. If you are like me, you pay special attention to the red letter words of Jesus found throughout the New Testament. If Jesus said it, I better pay attention to it. Not only did Jesus quote scripture to refute temptation, he frequently used specific Old Testament accounts to teach his followers how to live as overcomers in a broken, sinful world. I’m reminded that one of primary and persistent sins the Israelites committed was that of forgetting all God had done for them.
Every Promise Is Backed By God’s Faithfulness
Of course, we can easily judge the Israelites for their short memories and shortsightedness in decision-making. But are we really so different? After all, the majority of our first responses to any (all) troubling news is generally a fear-based one. Some frightening report comes our way and before we even end the call, read the entire email or text, we’ve initiated damage control. I can only imagine Jesus shaking his head sadly and saying to us, “This, my child, is not how I want you to respond.” I can envision him sitting down next to me open bible in hand and leading me page by page to those passages of scripture that would offer me specific comfort for my specific problem.
It IS written…for my blessing, encouragement and lifelong benefit. God has supplied all I need to learn to think and meditate my way through my struggles with fear. My part is to immerse myself in God’s promises and make them my own. When I am facing a fear-full situation, I will be best equipped to get through unscathed when I run first to God’s promises and then take time to remember all he has done for me in the past.
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