4 Truths To Reflect On When Facing Fear
I am just wondering how much God will allow before we break.
That is probably going to go down in the book titled “Things I Should Have Never Said”. That quote will go alongside other dangerous things that I have said or thought like, What else can go wrong?, I want Jesus over comfort, and How much more can I handle?.
And I am sure that a bunch of other things that you have said are coming to mind right now.
I am currently sitting on a balcony looking over the city of Kigali, Rwanda. The two weeks leading up to the mission trip we are currently on were trying.
The things that we thought would be a hinderance were not, but everything else was. Hard conversations with no answers, children getting hurt causing us to pray that nothing would happen while we are gone, and then the icing on the cake was when our son Charlie’s dresser fell on him the day before we left. He didn’t get hurt because the dresser drawers caught the weight of the dresser, but I will tell you it was scary to see my son holding a drawer of the dresser that could have crushed him.
The questions What else can go wrong?, and how far will He push us before we break? were at the forefront of my mind.
Faith & Fear Trust
There was a small part of me that wanted to stay home and let my husband go on the trip. Leaving the children was definitely a step of faith. There was the fear that something would happen to them while we are gone, but the faith that while we were not with them God would have to protect them.
4 Truths To Reflect On When Facing Fear Click To TweetIt is funny, because as I sit here in Rwanda I am seeing a bigger reflection of fear and faith, in a city that is incredibly broken yet beautiful. The history is unthinkable, and the poverty is indescribable. As I am looking, I see hills with nice hotels and guest houses, with a valley that includes mud huts with rusty roofs with holes in them. I hear solemn silence and then sounds of songs of victory rising from the valley.
The fine line between all of that is Jesus. Faith and trust despite circumstance. Faith and trust despite what has happened before, and what could happen again.
Are You Ready?
About a year ago I started to hear God asking me if I was ready. Ready for what I didn’t know, but as I have gone through the past year I have found these things that He was asking me if I was ready for.
- Are you ready to take the biggest step of faith in your life?
- Are you ready for that step of faith to stretch your faith farther and wider than you are comfortable with?
- Are you ready to follow me with your whole heart, and not be swayed by what the world says is possible?
- And are you ready to see that God can really give you the desires of your heart as you step out in faith?
- Are you ready to look for answers and not find them in anything but Jesus?
- Are you ready to choose faith, even though everything around you says that you should choose fear?
Those are heavy questions as I reflect on the past year. The questions are heavy because they don’t guarantee comfort. These questions don’t guarantee a happy ending. The decision to risk it all for Jesus, sometimes means that you could be completely uncertain of what your next steps are.
I had a lot of tears when considering what could happen to our children while we are gone. I won’t make the list but it was extensive. I cried myself to sleep for 2 nights. And those tears could have kept me from sitting here in Rwanda today.
God’s Promises
If I know anything, it is that God never promises that our children will be safe, He never promises health, and He never promises that nothing will go wrong. There are times when I don’t like that very much, but even though we are not promised that everything will go right, our commitment should be to Jesus first and where He leads, and not in our circumstances and not in the worry of where His path will lead.
Here are a few of His many promises that can help us have faith when fear tells us to run…
- He will never leave or forsake you.
- When you are faithless, He is still faithful.
- He will be with you always, to the end of time.
- And my favorite, that although in this world we will have trouble, that He will overcome the world. That is the best promise.
What Promises Are You Clinging To?
There are so many things in life that try to keep us from following where He leads. I shared some of my favorite promises that I try to cling to when fears seep in. What other of His promises do you cling to when you are battling fear?
What promises do you cling to when fear starts to sneak in? Click To TweetBooks for Related Reading
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I have a saying I used to repeat to myself all the time when I started to get afraid. I would say, “God’s got this. His timing is perfect, His ways are best, and He loves me.” Those four things, and the methodology of repeating them over and over, could calm my heart like nothing else. Because… Jesus.
Speaking truth to yourself is so important in times of fear!
This is beautiful. Thank you for sharing. I rest in knowing that even when I am fearful, God still loves me.
That is a good one! Thanks for reading 🙂
This spoke to me deeply. I feel as though that’s where I am, trying to choose trust over fear while knowing that God never promised smooth sailing. It really is a deep thing to think about. It’s refreshing to hear someone call it for what it is. Thank you! I do love the promises you listed. And I like to think of, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.”
It is funny because people will tell you “they will be okay”…but that isn’t God’s promise. Tough pill to swallow. Thankful it spoke to you. Thank you for reading!
Thank you for sharing this. I really needed this today. I cling to the ones you mentioned. And I have to remember that when I don’t understand His actions, I must trust His heart for me. The verse in Jeremiah that promises God has a plan for me of good, and hope, and a future.
I am thankful that it spoke to you. What is funny is that the verse in Jeremiah was the theme verse for our trip!
Life is a series of seasons that vacillate between us feeling secure and us wanting to feel secure. We stand still in fear for a time perhaps–then move forward in faith and trust. Great post. God bless!
Thanks for stopping by and reading! Best place to be is secure in His promises.
I am so excited for you. After 20 years of following God on our first mission trip, I look back at the incredible journey God has taken us. There were many fears along the way but God was always there to hold us close and calm us. The weeks before a trip are usually the worst for the spiritual attacks. God will provide. Praying for you and your family
The trip was about a month ago! It was amazing. And I have never experienced spiriutal attacks like before both of the mission trips I had been on. Crazy. But God is good, and faithful,
I cling to the promise that He is always with me. He will never leave me. He will guide me through everything. He loves me.
Such good truths. Thanks for sharing them with us!
Yes, Heather, I’ve said a few things I regretted as well. And it is easy to fear and want our comfort over being uncomfortable -that may come our way when we follow Jesus wherever He leads.
I love all your promises and cling to those too. I would add Psalm 23:6 (and the entire chapter idea). Even though I walk through the valley, and no matter what happens, I’m “sure” that God’s goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. We talk about seeing God’s fingerprints in our lives, in this way, we need to look for His footprints. We need to look over our shoulder and realize goodness and mercy are with us in every situation. Thanks for a great post!
I love the ones you listed! Thanks for sharing.
Dear Heather!
Hope you’re doing great in Rwanda 🙂 Sometimes we just have to trust that we’re following the plan the Lord set out for us. I don’t know if I had taken the trip with all the challenges you mentioned in the blog post. I respect you for your courage.
The six questions you mentioned in the middle of this blog post are great questions all of us should ask ourselves.
You asked: “What other of His promises do you cling to when you are battling fear?”
My answer: “As long as I try to do the best I can, always learning, I say to myself that God is with me”.
Blessings!
Edna Davidsen
Thanks Edna! Rwanda was amazing and hard, and wonderful and painful. Haha. More about that next month.
Thanks for reading today!
You’re welcome, Jessica!
I love this reminder. I often get carried away in my fear over the future, so I truly enjoyed reading this. I love the promise that God wins in the end. He will overcome evil once and for all. That keeps me going!
I can get carried away in my fear about… well… a lot!I love the two that you mentioned as well! Thanks for reading 🙂
Thank you for sharing your heart with us! One verse I cling to when those fears try to rise up in me is Isaiah 43:2. I will not be drowned or scorched by what’s happening around me, because God is with me!
Such strong truth! Thanks for sharing!
Hey, Jessica. I can totally appreciate this post. I’ve been there. I remember just before leaving our home town to go on a church plant, I was watching a storm from my front porch. I’ve always loved storms. I asked God why, and he said it was because they remind me of him. “How’s that, God?” “Because you might get wet, but you’ll never be swept away.”
I held onto that in the midst of the upheaval church planting was. It brought tremendous comfort and hope. You’re so right. God doesn’t promise our comfort, but when we follow, we get him. What else could we ask for?
Hmmm… that is good… when we follow, we get Him. So good!
In answer to your question, “What other of His promises do you cling to when you are battling fear;” my reply is God is good. When bad things happen, when discouragement sets in, or confusion hits, I have to remember that God is good. That in all things He not only works all out for good; He is the good gift giver, too. He doesn’t delve out to us what we deserve, He delivers grace upon grace. His goodness is endless. So, in those confusing times when God simply says, “Obey” and I don’t understand the why, I can obey anyway, because I know He is good and will only do good for me.
These are great promises! Although I still deal with anxiety, it was much worse years ago and that is when my life verse was born which was the first verse you shared. 🙂
Thanks for the encouraging post!
I battle trusting him over the future and money- I catch myself forgetting that he knows what we need and how much our bills are. I just have to pray again and again that he will keep reminding me.