The Seedling of Fear

09.29.11

Luke 12.22 22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about y our life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear..."NIV

Ah, the worrying! What will happen to me? How will I live? Will I be able to make the rent? Like a constant dripping wearing a hole in solid stone is worrying that wears a hole in my joy and erodes my faith. Worrying is the act of doubting God. Worrying is that destructive force that creeps in quietly and unseats the foundation of faith.

I worry all the time. I play home movies in my head about all the things I think I will be faced with. It’s funny when the worrying starts, my belief in God grows very small; I have to grab ahold of it or it will grow so small that you might wonder if I have faith at all. Worrying is futile.

Jesus told them not to worry because He knew they did and He knows we do too.

Worrying, like any mental exercise, has to be dealt with quickly and firmly or it will grow pretty big, pretty fast. To my knowledge, Jesus never worried; He never asked the Father, “How am I going to pull this off?” What He did say was, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26.39 NASB) If He didn’t worry, I shouldn’t. That’s why the Bible is so full of so many affirmations of God’s love, presence, and provision.

The affirmations in the Bible however, are not there as merely optional thoughts: well I can think this if things get too bad… Or, I’ll think this to make that stress less stressful. No, we’re to immediately deal with the stress, and before God confess it, and get rid of it, by claiming God’s truth against it. We’re to get used to claiming God’s truth when the worrying starts to drip…or bursts forth in a flood! God’s word is our Shield and Defense against those nagging little lies that tell us God is somehow going to let us down; let us fail. Those affirmations are also not for mild anesthesia – they are the very real weapons of our warfare in bringing every thought captive to God.

Worry is the seedling of fear and fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is a crippling cruel monster and must be killed with the truth. When our kids were young, we had some cassette tapes that had on them Scripture verses set to music. Each tape told a story and had these verses written into the story and set to music to help the listener memorize them. I will never forget Psalm 56.3: When I am afraid, I will trust in You. I can still hear the music in my head.

The truth is: I will get afraid at times. The question is: what will I do with the fear, how will I handle it? When I am afraid, I will trust in You. A friend of mine texted me this verse last week: O Lord of Hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You! (Psalm 84.12) These are powerful affirmations but also eternal truths. These are statements of who we are at the very core of our being. If the core is solid, worry won’t find fertile ground. If the core is weak, then all kinds of things will spring up and grow.

Yes, Jesus knows what worry does to us and His counsel is: do not worry. Today, I am to give over my thoughts to Him and think His. Today, I am to go out in the power and presence of the Lord, not my own. So that’s what I’m gonna do…