Worry and Fear
Worry and Fear.These two words have incredible power in our lives.
Since I live in a foreign country, my fears might look different than yours, but I think that it is safe to say that we all are faced with worry and fear.
We all have our own fears to face on a daily basis. If you're a mom, that gives you built in fear right there!! If your kids are in the toddler/preschool phase, we have the fears of our children's safety, and the constantly wondering if our less-than-perfect mothering is going to mess these kids up for life (er, maybe that's just me).
If your kids are a little older, you've got puberty, drivers licenses, college, the opposite sex, and probably even future sons or daughters-in-law. Yikes!!
There are still other fears in our lives, it could be fears about our children's health, financial fears, or depression. It could be fear for your marriage, or the fear of failure in your work or life. We have fears and insecurities bombarding us every single day. It's not a matter of if we will have them, but it's a matter of what we will choose to do with them.
I don't know about you, but I find it easy to trust in things other than God, sometimes without even realizing it. Things like our spouse, a close friend, our mom, maybe even the Almighty Dr.Phil, or whoever is popular in America these days. I'm no different than the next girl...I find myself trusting in these things more often than I should. Is God and His Word the first thing we run to in hard times? It sounds so cliche', but He should be.
It isn't always easy to trust Him. In fact, it can be down right hard!! But, if you think about it, each time you actively choose to trust God, instead of relying on your own strength, you are bringing God glory!!
Yes, there are plenty of things for me to worry about here!!! I worry about lots of things. My husband is a pilot, I worry about his safety every day as he flies. I worry about my mom who is very ill. I worry that my children will turn out to be strange "3rd culture kids", not fitting here, or there. And, yes, I worry about snakes (spitting cobras to be exact)!
However, I think it is the best place I could be. Why? Because when I am fearful, I can run to my Heavenly Father's arms and know that His grace is sufficient for me. And as the verse says,
God's power is perfected in our human weakness. The weaker we are the more glory He gets through our trusting in Him!! This way, our lives, even in our weaknesses can be for His glory.
How about you?
What do you find yourself running to in times of fear and worry?
What could you do to remind yourself to run to the Heavenly Father first in times like these?
Since I live in a foreign country, my fears might look different than yours, but I think that it is safe to say that we all are faced with worry and fear.
We all have our own fears to face on a daily basis. If you're a mom, that gives you built in fear right there!! If your kids are in the toddler/preschool phase, we have the fears of our children's safety, and the constantly wondering if our less-than-perfect mothering is going to mess these kids up for life (er, maybe that's just me).
If your kids are a little older, you've got puberty, drivers licenses, college, the opposite sex, and probably even future sons or daughters-in-law. Yikes!!
There are still other fears in our lives, it could be fears about our children's health, financial fears, or depression. It could be fear for your marriage, or the fear of failure in your work or life. We have fears and insecurities bombarding us every single day. It's not a matter of if we will have them, but it's a matter of what we will choose to do with them.
I don't know about you, but I find it easy to trust in things other than God, sometimes without even realizing it. Things like our spouse, a close friend, our mom, maybe even the Almighty Dr.Phil, or whoever is popular in America these days. I'm no different than the next girl...I find myself trusting in these things more often than I should. Is God and His Word the first thing we run to in hard times? It sounds so cliche', but He should be.
It isn't always easy to trust Him. In fact, it can be down right hard!! But, if you think about it, each time you actively choose to trust God, instead of relying on your own strength, you are bringing God glory!!
Yes, there are plenty of things for me to worry about here!!! I worry about lots of things. My husband is a pilot, I worry about his safety every day as he flies. I worry about my mom who is very ill. I worry that my children will turn out to be strange "3rd culture kids", not fitting here, or there. And, yes, I worry about snakes (spitting cobras to be exact)!
However, I think it is the best place I could be. Why? Because when I am fearful, I can run to my Heavenly Father's arms and know that His grace is sufficient for me. And as the verse says,
"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake: for when I am weak then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
God's power is perfected in our human weakness. The weaker we are the more glory He gets through our trusting in Him!! This way, our lives, even in our weaknesses can be for His glory.
How about you?
What do you find yourself running to in times of fear and worry?
What could you do to remind yourself to run to the Heavenly Father first in times like these?
In Him.....Joy
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Labels: Faith, fear, Joys Articles
posted by Joy @ SAH Missionary @ 12:01 AM
11 Comments:
Wonderful thoughts!! I think women struggle with the whole "fear" thing more than men. I don't know, maybe that's just our house...
I like so much what you said about trusting in things other than God. We do that so easily, don't we?? I think the trick is to slow down so we can hear His voice. Not easy to do in our world today, no matter what country you live in!!
Thank you so much for this post Joy!!! So true! :)
Great words. Thanks so much for sharing.
Awesome, bless you for this.
Joy,
This is just sooooo true, no matter where we find ourselves.
A friend always reminds me that WORRY and FEAR are NOT of God. I fall into it...I guess we all do when we aren't paying attention. You are just spot on with this one...go to HIM when the worry sets in!!
I loved it...and I needed the reminder today!
I know that Blogger is being funny today...I'm just happy to see your WORDS getting out there today!!
Peace,
lori
Excellent thoughs today Joy. Wonderful words of wisdom! It has taken me a long time to finally realize that worry and fear are just tools the enemy uses to draw you away from the Father. Trusting in Him is oftentimes so difficult to do, but so important as we seek to live out His will.
Thank you for the wonderful reminder!
Loved the post, Joy.
I am in the adult child overseas, teenage driver phase of life...with another teenager and preteen on the horizon....
There are a gamut of fears that can haunt me.
The ONLY relief and release is giving them back to Papa.
Thanks for sharing your heart!
Hugs,
Julie
I love that verse. What hope in the midst of our struggles - He is strong in our weaknesses!
Good timing on this - my husband's last day of work was today. He is looking for another job but doesn't have one yet. So there's quite a bit of concern/worry/fear over our financial situation. God likes to take us through these lessons to teach us more about trusting Him to provide. :-)
I read a quote once (Oswald Chambers I think) that read:
"Worry is unnecessary and disrespectful."
That quote hit me right between the eyes. I don't mean to be disrespectful to the Father when I worry. I never even thought of it that way.
Even Paul's letter to the Romans tells us that "Whatever is not of faith is sin." I'm pretty sure that my worry is 'not of faith'. It is truly a struggle that I must leave at His feet - every day.
Thank you for sharing such a solid word today. (Now I have to Google 'spitting cobras'!)
Great thoughts! I've dealt with fear, worry and anxiety most of my life. However I have FINALLY learned that they truly are from the devil. Now when a thought pops in my head I try to think about where it came from. I speak out loud a lot and tell Jesus I trust Him. I might sound crazy to those around me, but I have to fight it! This life is way more fun without all the fear and worry. I'm heading over to your personal blog to read more. Thanks!
-Sheryl
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