God’s Word is full of seemingly unending promises on the subject of worry, fear, and discouragement.
It seems hard to believe that Christians could take these words to heart and still adopt the worry mode when encountering periods of distress. But that is the norm, not the exception.
We allow our anxieties to overwhelm us to the point we neglect giving them over to God first. We revert to being in charge and making decisions as if we were comparing big screen televisions before making a purchase. When we exclude God from the equation, we necessarily reduce the supernatural power available to help us defeat doubts, fears, and worries of all kinds. When we withdraw to worrying, we convince ourselves that our situation is too complex and threatening to stop trying to work it out on our own.
Taking our worries in hand on our own is a disastrous approach, and I know this firsthand. It wasn’t until I stopped worrying about everything that I could do anything for God. After yielding everything to him, I had a new sense of power over fear and anxiety so I could quickly put the negative thoughts in perspective and move on.
Yielding one’s concerns to God is a very different thing than merely “letting things happen.” Letting things happen in the sense of just giving up is irresponsible, and God does not want us to do that. He wants us to give up control that is rooted in fear. He wants us to stop fighting with ourselves and surrender to the divine plan for our lives. He wants us to buckle down even harder in the challenges of life and jump completely into his Word to see what he says to us about our situation.
Instead of panic, we should pray. Instead of stopping, we should press on with God and stay the course. Nothing has changed! God’s truth and promises have not changed just because we are experiencing uncertainties. God says stay on his road. The storms of life will not cease, but that is not the question. The question is whether we stay on God’s road or get off.
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42:11
Putting our hope in God is never easy, but he gives us the power to trust him in tough times. Eventually, our sadness turns to joy and our hearts and souls sustain us and help us withstand the sad moments that come and go on our journey.
