'Fraidy Cat

Fear is a funny creature - it tends to be something that can sneak up in the most unexpected ways and commandeer your mind completely. Perhaps it's from something that you've watched on TV or a scary story you've read in the news or a book. Maybe it's doing something that challenges you or sometimes it's just finding yourself caught in the clutches of second-guessing decisions you've made or things that you've done.

Today, fear seems to be my companion and while I'm trying to convince it to pursue a different journey, it seems to be content to remain by my side for the moment. It's a funny thing to me that I would give in to feeling afraid when I know that the God of the universe knows me by name and cares about everything I'm facing. Yet, at times I still become overwhelmed by the fear of the unknown. Most often it's when I start to question whether I took a wrong turn or stepped out of line somewhere or crossed over some unseen boundary.

The worst part about fear in my world is that it brings along its buddy, worry. That's where I really have to watch that I don't get tied up for when I start to be afraid it's not long before I also start to worry about it. I find myself retracing my steps and thinking through what has happened and what it making me feel afraid and then, if it's something I feel I should have had control over, I worry - worry that I said the wrong thing, that I acted the wrong way, that I didn't do something I should have (or did something I shouldn't). In the long run, I've found that 90% of the time (or more) my worrying has never been legitimately backed up by the thing I really fear coming true. However, it continues to be something that I have to guard against in order to keep my heart and mind focussed on what God has set before me.

So, while I battle through some fear, eventually to be vanquished by the truth of the Word, I'll leave you with the following thought: God knows and loves us more than we can imagine and He desires that our trust would be so firmly placed on Him that we find no need to fear the things that are to come because we know that where He leads us is that place where He calls us and that He goes out before us to prepare the way.

"The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid?" - Psalm 27:1