Posted by Over the course of my life, I have had to remind myself to have faith instead of fear. I sadly must admit that fear is something I struggle with. I fear over small things and I fear over big things. The grip of fear, no matter how big or small, is enough to keep me paralyzed, unable to move and unable to cope. Thankfully, I serve a God bigger than any fear that life may throw my way.
These times I allow fear to take root I have to consistently remind myself of this truth; that my faith in God to move on my behalf should be bigger than whatever fearful situation I may face. It doesn’t mean that the fear isn’t real or that it isn’t scary. It does mean that regardless of what I see and how I feel, I can be confident that God is in control and He wants to do a work in me through the process of having faith and trust in Him.
If I can be vulnerable with you for a moment I will share a fear that I still work through to this day. In college my mom was diagnosed with a very severe case of type one diabetes. For many years she has struggled with this disease. It has waged war in her body in a myriad of ways. When I was in college she almost died due to complications from it. Several years ago she faced the loss of eyesight because of it. As I type, she is preparing to go into surgery to have bones in her foot removed to remove a serious infection and hopefully prevent amputation or the spread of further infection.
Each time she has had a serious complication I can feel the grip of fear in my thoughts, my body, and my heart. No one wants to see a loved one suffering. If I allow it to, fear can take my thoughts to a deep, dark place. But I have learned and continue to learn that I must have faith in a God who is bigger, a God who knows our struggles, and a God who cares. Thankfully my sometimes-shaky faith doesn’t keep God from doing what He does best. I pray continually, in this area especially, that God would increase my faith for His healing for my mom’s body.
Why has God not completely healed her? I don’t have that answer. I wish I did, but I do know that fear has never served me well. It is something that chokes out the goodness of a faithful God that I have seen over and over again. You may be asking some of these same questions, why hasn’t God healed him/her/me? Why has God allowed this situation to continue? Why, why, why?
I have found that the why isn’t so important. I truly believe that God wants us to exercise our trust and faith in His sovereignty and goodness. He wants us to have faith that He has a plan and purpose. We may never know why, but we can know that He is with us in the trials, in the struggles and the pain. He wants to build our faith in Him, so that no matter what may come, we don’t have to live in the claws of fear. We can have the freedom we need to lay it all down at His feet.
While I don’t know how my mom’s surgery will turn out today, I have faith in a God who is in control. I don’t have to fear. I can continually lay my precious mom at His feet and allow Him to work in only ways He can. I encourage you today, if you are living in fear, lay it down. Let the God who has overcome all fear build in you a faith so strong, that you can be confident of His hand over your life and those you love.
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
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