Handling My Fears

I know believers in Christ have not been given a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7), but I still experience that disturbing emotion sometimes. To my mind, the issue for Christians is not that we are never supposed to feel fear, but how we deal with it when it comes. I think the experience of the children of Israel on the shore of the Red Sea shows us what to do.

God had sent Moses to deliver His people from slavery in Egypt. But when Moses led the people out of that country, he took them to the shore of the sea and, it seemed, straight into a trap.

BibleExodus 14:10 (NKJV) And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.

There the people stood on the shore, their way forward blocked by a sea they could not cross. And when they looked behind, they knew that big dust cloud on the horizon was the pursuing Egyptian army, angry and determined to violently chastise them for daring to escape from their servitude.

Sea in front, Egyptians behind, no weapons and no ability to fight. From a human perspective, the children of Israel literally had no way out of their situation. Fully understanding their between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place predicament, they became very afraid. And in their fear, they gave us a great example of what Christians should do when the circumstances we face in life make us afraid – they cried out to the Lord!

The Bible never promises that believers won’t face threatening and seemingly impossible situations. In fact, it pretty much assures us that we will. But it also tells us how to handle it when those crises inevitably occur.

Psalm 56:3 Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.

When adverse or threatening circumstances stir up emotions of fear, they should just motivate us to call on the Lord and trust Him for deliverance. Even when there seems to be no way out, God can part the waters for us when we trust Him with our fears.

Ron Franklin

This entry was posted in Christian Life, Devotionals, Faith and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *