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Have you ever faced an overwhelming sense of fear? It could be from something that was happening in your life or the life of someone you love. Where no matter how hard you tried to overcome fear, the fear was overwhelming. Forcing you to feel there was no way of escape. But that is not true at all.
Psalm 56:3-4 (ESV) states: When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?
Commentaries about Psalm 56 suggest that it was written when David had been seized by the Philistines. David was no doubt facing something terrifying. But from Psalm 56:3-4 David shows us that in times of fear we still trust God.
Trusting God does not mean that the situation we or others face will go away immediately. Rather, in the midst of what we are facing, regardless of how long we are in the midst of it, we continue to elevate God and the truth of God’s word above what we face. We continue to elevate God and the truth of God’s word above our fear.
Proverbs 3:5-6 states: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Someone reading this might be saying, when fear overtakes me, I do not even know how to acknowledge God so that I can experience the peace of mind needed to see God’s path. To see God’s way out.
As believers, we have to accept that our walk with the Lord is a daily experience of learning how to consistently depend on and trust God. A daily experience of consistently leaning on God for hope, help, strength and security. Just to name a few.
John 5:19 (ESV) states: So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
John 5:19 reveals that Jesus did not live His life independent of the Father. No, Jesus depended on the Father to know how to carry out the Father’s Will. Jesus depended on the Father to know what to do in every circumstance. As believers, we must do the same. But how do we do this?
We need the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can teach us how to depend on God. The Holy Spirit can teach us how to trust God in every circumstance.
The Holy Spirit can empower us so that whether we are just living life daily seeking to glorify God in all we do, or in times when we are confronted with fear from the pressures and troubles of life, we can confidently put our trust in God.
Rest assured that if we allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit, we will experience deeper depths of trust in God.
Except where indicated, scripture references are from the American Standard Version (ASV), Darby Translation (DARBY), or King James Version (KJV) – all public domains.
