Abby and Eason,
I have a friend who always makes comments about the fact that I do things scared. She says it as a compliment about my willingness to trust Jesus. I am not sure if I am brave, but I do often find myself doing things scared and trusting Jesus. For me, it seems like when I face a situation, I have two choices. (1) Trust Jesus, when I have heard His voice, and move forward or (2) don’t. Of course, option two means that I do what I want instead of what I have heard Jesus say. That doesn’t usually end so well.
I guess that is what I want to write to you about today… fear. Fear is commonly talked about in the Bible. Because we live in a broken world that tries to demand our affection, we often find ourselves struggling to know what to do. Society says to do one thing, but Jesus says to do another.
Fear isn’t a new emotion. One of the first letters I wrote to you I titled “There Are Giants Among Us” from the story of Joshua and the 12 spies. In that story, the Israelites were scared to face giants and chose to not enter the Promised Land because of their fear. It seems like they faced the same two choices I find myself facing when I hear God’s voice but am scared to follow. Either the Israelites could (1) move forward to take over the promised land or (2) not.
There are countless Bible stories and countless stories around us each day with the same choice to make. So, I thought I would give you advice that I use when I face fear in decisions.
First, fear is an emotion. The word of God (the Bible) is truth. As I have said in many letters before, when you have strong emotions, talk to Jesus. He will guide you. Here is kinda how I process fear.
- I acknowledge that I feel fearful.
- I talk to Jesus about my fear.
- I remember what I heard Him say.
- I acknowledge to Jesus that I am struggling to follow what He told me to do and ask Him to bring me peace.
- I go back to His word. Anything that the Lord has asked you to do will always line up with scripture. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
- If the Lord confirms that it was His voice I heard as I read scripture, I move forward. If not, I don’t.
Sometimes along the way I need to talk it through. You guys know I love to talk things out with other believers. It isn’t uncommon for me to call a friend and tell them what I believe the Lord is calling me to do. Sometimes, they will point me to scriptures that confirm the word I have heard from the Lord. Other times, they will ask me a question or make a statement that causes me to go back to the Lord and ask Him again if it was His voice I heard.
Friends and Biblical community are critically important. One of the blessings of the Christian life is getting to do life with other believers. But, it is important to remember that the advice of other believers is only advice. It is still our responsibility to seek the Lord, pray, and pursue scripture in following Jesus.
And, candidly, sometimes the things we do look really stupid from a this world perspective. You have to remember that in this world our priorities are all mixed up. There are millions of things competing for your attention. As those things take hold, we, as a society of people, place value on them. Oftentimes they don’t deserve value and if we give them value, we can easily justify making a bad decision because society says it’s okay.
So, I guess what I am trying to say is fear is just an emotion. It is a powerful one. But, it is still just an emotion. Jesus says we can cast all of our cares on Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7) When you face fear, move yourself back to truth. Read scripture, pray. Allow the Lord to lead you. Sometimes it will look weird to society, but that isn’t our focus. Our focus is getting to live the story Jesus is writing in our lives.
I love you both so much and am proud of the way you depend on Jesus.
Mom