I Will Not be Afraid

“When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid.  What can mortal man do to me?”  Psalm 56:3-4

 

Yesterday we talked about the fear that we all face during trying circumstances. Fear is a common condition of man and must be combated with the supernatural peace and grace of God.

 In verse four, the psalmist says “In God, whose word I praise.”  I love this because His Word is what we can stand on during our trying times.  Whatever circumstances lie before us, there is a passage of Scripture that can give us wisdom, direction, or a promise to stand on.  Because of his Word, we can know God’s heart in a matter, and therefore, can pray in accordance with his will.  And of course, we know that when we pray according to his will, he hears us and answers.

Twice this passage talks about trusting in God.  This is one of the simplest and at the same time, complex, aspects of our walk with God.  To trust in Him means to believe He is doing what is best, is looking out for us, and is watching over his word to perform it.  To trust him in a situation means that we exalt him to the place of lordship- the one who calls the shots- in that situation.  These are the ways that trusting is easy.

Trusting becomes hard in the doing of it!  Because I find that even as I am trusting, there are times I will pick my problem back up and begin to work on it in my mind.  Or in my emotions.  I mean to leave it in God’s capable hands, but almost unconsciously I go into self-protect mode.  Do you relate to this?  Trusting God does not mean praying and then doing everything within your power to fix it.  There are times that God requires stuff from us, and other times he requires us to trust, pray and wait.  This is when the war with the flesh becomes most intense.

In verse 3, the writer writes “When I am afraid…” But in verse 4 he states, “I will not be afraid.” How can both be true?  I believe that the first ‘being afraid’ is about the emotion of fear that comes to us and is not of our own choosing. The second one, however, I believe is about where I choose to put my thoughts, emotions and faith.  Am I going to allow fear to seize me or am I going, instead, to choose to believe what the Word says?

Dear Lord, though I feel fear, I chose to not put stock in that.  Help me to walk in faith and trust and experience your peace that passes understanding.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri