Overwhelming Fear or Overwhelming Trust?

You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, for the Lord is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap. (Proverbs 3:25-26)

As report after report shines light on some fraud, abuse, or disastrous plan that had been hatched, we might just find ourselves feeling a little overwhelmed by the fear that these reports have a way of creating within the hearts of millions these days. We might feel more than a little angst as to whether we will receive our regular income from our job or retirement funds. We could be wondering how we will be able to afford necessary healthcare if this plan or that one folds. We might even be feeling a little dread over what comes next on the agenda of whoever holds the power of the day. We must never lose sight of one thing - God is still in control, even when we don't see his hand, it is still directing the course of our lives.

God's 'advice' to us is to stop being afraid. He will not allow our 'security' to be disturbed. Our 'security' isn't in a financial system, healthcare system, or employment system. It is in God alone. We need not fear the results of ill-formed, disastrous schemes of people around us. Even in the midst of the greatest chaos, he reigns supreme. Hear that and begin to believe it like your life depends on it - because it does! Our footing is secure - even when all things around us seem to be falling apart. The temptation to be fearful is easily given into when we aren't sure about where our anchor is placed. Place than anchor in 'solid ground' and you need not fear that worst that will come.

God helps us 'keep our footing' in the midst of disastrous circumstances. We don't have to hold ourselves in that secure anchorage - he even does that work. All we do is keep our eyes on him. I cannot emphasize this enough. Whoever it is we focus on the most will be the one we 'trust'. If we keep our eyes on the naysayers, negative nellies, and bad news commentators, we will experience unsettling fear that actually perpetuates more fear. If we keep our eyes squarely on Jesus, refusing to focus on the negative reports of the day, we will experience a peace that supersedes any negative report. We can either be overwhelmed by fear or live within an overwhelming trust. The choice is ours. Just sayin!

But...we know him

Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. (Matthew 6:27-33)

Changes come and changes go. We cannot control them, nor can we escape them. To worry over them is simply not productive. Jesus says this type of "worrying" or "creation of emotional chaos" in our lives because of the frequency or consistency of change is what those who don't know him engage in. It isn't to be the "mode of operation" for those of us who are all a part of his family. When our focus is centered correctly on "who" gets us through the present change rather than the change itself, we find this perspective keeps the "emotional chaos" at bay. Only then will our intentional actions that allow us to navigate through the changes we are facing become ordered, productive, and on-target. 

It isn't always our responsibility or even within our ability to control the change, nor is it to be the change which controls us. We are to bring the change to God, allow him to set the course, then settle into the course he has us on. In the end, we find as long as we remain set on observing his "navigational instruction" in our lives, we don't have the overwhelming chaos in the midst of change. We might have a little "turmoil" because change suggests the old is being purged and the new is coming into focus, but this is a good kind of turmoil - nothing to worry over.

What gets our clothes clean in the washing machine? Isn't it the turmoil of tumbling over each other and the friction caused by the changing of the cycles within that machine? Without this action, the resulting effect of "being in the washer" would be of no value. Clean and ready clothes are a result of the action and the "agents" within the washer. Water, soap, and the action of the spinning or agitating tub are essential. So, not all types of turmoil are bad - sometimes they help create the "friction" we need to get us to a new level of "cleanliness" or "readiness" in life. The turmoil is "helped along" to do the work it needs to do when God adds in a little of his living water and a lot of his cleansing power! Just sayin!

Piling on?

O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer! From the ends of the earth, I will cry to you for help, for my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings! (Psalm 61:1-3)

There will always be times when we feel a little overwhelmed. Following Jesus doesn’t ensure there will not be a deluge of problems on occasion that seem to almost close in on us. It could be argued that God expects us to call out when we begin to feel them closing in, but I’d like to propose that he wants our contact with him to be so deep and intimate that he can ‘hear our heart’ even before he hears our words. The heart can betray what we are feeling or sensing sometimes quicker than our words can express. I have felt overwhelming fear on occasion, unable to utter even one word, but then found God’s peace just settling in over me like a warm blanket on a chilly day. How does that happen? He heard my heart’s cry long before I was even able to acknowledge the need for his intervention. There is just something about dwelling in his presence that allows this to occur. We may not understand it fully, but we can live in it thoroughly.

When overwhelmed by life’s circumstances, we often don’t feel like we have a good vantage point from which to take in what is happening. We can feel like the weight just keeps piling on, the pressures keep escalating, and the attacks keep coming. It is as though we don’t even want to peek our heads out from under the covers because we are afraid we will be a target for some new attack. David said when he felt like that, he asked God to lead him to the towering rock of safety – his presence. We might just need to make that our cry in times of desperate struggle – that God would lead us into his presence, shutting out the noise of this world and let us rely upon him to ‘cover over us’ with his protection. David also told us this place of safety wasn’t just to be a place we frequented on occasion – it was to be our place of dwelling (living there forever).

How do we get to the place of dwelling in his presence so intimately that our heart’s cries are heard, and our protection is understood? It may not come all at once, but the more we take time with him, the more we will find his presence never leaves us nor forsakes us. We just ‘know’ he is here with us – making it all that much easier to express things to him with our heart and not just our head. Just sayin!

Knock, Knock, Open Up

We all live extremely busy lives, experiencing some level of a lack of "togetherness" in our days, but it is not to be the "norm" for us. In fact, God wants us to learn to rely upon him bringing things "together" FOR us rather than us having to do all the work ourselves. We "enter into" what God has for us - in turn, he enters into us and begins to set things in right order which are kind of helter-skelter within us. In the end, he begins to effect changes to the things in our days we cannot handle apart from his grace and action helping us to "get through"!

By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise. There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! (Romans 5:1-5)

We "enter" each day with an opportunity to "enter into" what God has prepared for us, or remaining "head-strong" by trying to just do it all ourselves. We don't find the strength we need to work through the challenges we may be facing by "mustering" some kind of internal strength, but by "entering into" the peace, provision, and presence he provides. To do this, we have to first take this "overwhelming feeling of pressure" we may be under because of mounting deadlines, competing priorities, and demanding issues and place it squarely in his control. Instead of entering into the challenges, we lay those challenges at his feet. We want the circumstances to be altered and the only way they will be is when we take them to the altar! It is there he gives direction and brings peace. It is there he transforms us from a mess of worrying human goop into a person wholly equipped with the wisdom to prioritize the demands, make the most of the opportunities, and quickly resolve the small stuff we should not be sweating in the first place!

When we "throw open OUR doors to God", we discover he has already opened his doors to us! I have three bedrooms in my home, each with a door on them. I can have all three doors closed at one time. The only thing connecting the three rooms at that moment is the hallway. At first, the hallway seems quite confining - small, dark, and with walls quite close. In that smallness of space, I can feel overwhelmed. As soon as I begin to open the door to the first bedroom, the hallway takes on a different feel - new light is brought into the hallway, the walls don't seem so close, and I see the possibility of expanse before me. The very action of opening the door presented more opportunities for me. I am no longer bound by the limits of the hallway - but I needed the hallway to get to the open space of the bedroom! Even the moments of "confining distress" are just transition points which require us to take some action - we have to allow them to act as the means by which we open the next door! As we bring ourselves to the door, we have to take the handle - turn it - and then swing the door open. It is like we take the confining mess of our day and then we determine to move it from our control to his! We allow him to bring us through the transition of feeling confined into the openness and light of his presence.

Some of my deepest moments of growth are when I feel the most confined - because I have come to recognize them as transition points (hallways) in my life. They aren't "crushing weights" when the right one is bearing the weight! As soon as I transition the weight from me to Jesus, the confining feelings of chaos and disorganized thought begin to lift! I can see things better when I have made the transition of me having to control it all into the place of letting him bring me into the expanses of his provision. Look at what our passage says comes next - when we open the door, clearly making the transition from feeling so confined by the pressures around us - we not only come into open spaces with God, but there is "even more to come"! Now, why on earth would we want to remain in the hallway, all confined by the pressures we face, when we could come into his "even more"?

The promise - we cannot round up enough containers to contain all God generously provides for us when we open the door to him! Nothing compares to the generosity of God - nothing outshines his goodness toward those he loves! I don't need to "own" it all - I just need to be available to do whatever he asks of me. I don't need to be in "charge" of it all - I just need to be willing to take the next step when he requires it of me. This is a challenge to actually live this way, but one thing is for sure - as soon as we learn to not settle for the "hallway experiences", we will be moving in the right direction. The hallway is not a confining space, but a transition point. Let the pressures mount, the problems come as they may, and the competition for our priorities be ever in our way - it takes the hallway to get to the doorway! At the doorway, we can transfer what is in our way! Just sayin!