Sound of Surviving Blog

Over the last few days, I’ve struggled a lot with fear. Even crying at times, because I was so afraid. Everyone struggles with fear at some point. None of us are immune. Fear of failure, fear of death, fear of loss, fear of sickness, fear of the “what-ifs?” Fear is just lurking behind every corner, waiting to capture us and enslave us. What fear doesn’t tell us, is that its twin is standing, waiting, just outside the darkness, waiting for us to realize that fear really has no power over us. Fear is just a big bully, with all talk and no game.

After all, if we have God on our side, then we can trust Him that he will never leave us or forsake us. Believe me, this is hard to do, no matter what, God’s not going anywhere, despite the lies of fear that the devil whispers into our ear. If you listen closely for God’s still small voice, you’ll hear him whispering, “I’m here, my child, trust me, I will be your strength, I will carry you through it all.” If God is our strength, the almighty creator of the ends of the universe, we truly do have nothing to fear. In Romans 8:31, Paul states, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” I think sometimes, we know this, but we worry and fear anyway. We let our circumstances drive our emotions, and then, we let our emotions drive us. If we’re constantly filled with fear and worry, we have no room left for happiness. And if we lose our happiness, we lose everything. In Nehemiah 8:10, it reads, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength”. I’ve never once worried about something, and then afterwards been happy for the time I spent and often wasted worrying. What happens when we are anxious and let fear take control is that we lose our joy and our hope in God to carry us through.  And if the joy of the Lord is our strength, we lose our strength. Worrying doesn’t change what’s going to happen to us tomorrow; it just sucks all of the joy and the happiness out of today. When we live in fear and anxiety, we’re not living. At least not fully. Not the way God created us to live. Because when we wait for all of our problems to go away for us to be happy, we never will be happy.

We will still have hardships when we walk with God; they don’t magically disappear. But when we choose to follow God and trust him, we get let in on a little secret that fear and Satan don’t want us to know. God has overcome the whole world and conquered every single battle in it. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  (John 16:33) Despite what that other pesky little whiny voice in your head that isn’t from God is telling you, God’s been holding you all along, he will get you through the impossible. He conquered death for you and for me. He gives his hardest battles to his strongest warriors. So, when you’re facing the unknown, walking onto the battlefield of life with just a slingshot and a stone, do not fear. The joy of the Lord is your strength. He is fighting alongside of you. Even when you don’t see him. Faith in God does not make things easy, but it does make all things possible. So next time fear knocks on your door, and barges in without an invitation, kindly grab it by the arm, remembering where your strength comes from, and escort it right back out the door, inviting Hope in instead.