Bigger Than Fears

Bigger than Fears

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. Isaiah 43:2

WHILE REGRETS EAT AWAY AT OUR SOUL, our fears, anxieties, and worries often paralyze it. These forward-looking thoughts are actually a form of faith but cast in negative terms. When we cultivate our anxieties—roll them over in our minds, think about them in the middle of the night, and live defensively to make sure nothing bad happens—we grow in our belief that a possible problem is a likely one. We have little trouble turning a subtle fear into a dreadful expectation and can often do so in a remarkably short period of time. If only we could accelerate and magnify our subtle hopes the same way and turn them into expectant faith.

We can, of course. It’s the same dynamic. The difference is that our minds are well-trained in the art of turning bothersome molehills into intimidating mountains, even after we quote magnificent promises about faith being able to move mountains. That mental training takes us down frightful paths, where we rehearse the scenarios in our imagination and plan for ways around them. The result is a defensive, faithless life of self-protection that sometimes keeps us safe but rarely leads to us doing the things God has called us to do. If the heroic characters in Acts had embraced that thought life, they never would have changed the world.

God’s promises cover every aspect of our future. They don’t ensure that we will never face hardship; hardship is part of every life, even the self-protected ones. God’s promises do ensure that he will be with us in any storm, providing ample grace for every moment, and leading us into extremely rewarding fruitfulness and joy. It’s faith, not fear, that leads to great victories, and it’s faith that aligns us with the heart of the Father and invokes his presence in every situation we encounter. Our worries and anxieties stunt our spiritual growth, while our faith accelerates and amplifies it. We have nothing to fear in the “rivers of difficulty” or the “fire of oppression.” God overcomes all. In him, so do we.

God’s promises are like the stars; the darker the night, the brighter they shine.