There are lots of people out there that have lost their jobs. Money is tight. We have been officially proclaimed to be in a pandemic since January 2020. Businesses are failing. The oilfield is almost down. The world market is suffering. Walmart has lowered our standard of living. McDonald’s has made us fat. Abortion, homosexuality and the declining family unit are causing the human race to quickly cycle into extinction. Humanity is destroying our planet. Christians are being killed and tortured in China, Iran, Syria, and other places, and persecuted in the United States. A man that stands for nothing left the Presidency with our country divided along every line there is. President Trump’s run for office and the years up to the present have been writhe with attacks from the Liberals, nonstop, especially those in the U. S. Congress and the previous administration. Civil wars are causing genocide in their countries. The Coronavirus, Antifa violence, the calling for police to have their budgets cut or leave entirely, have caused us to question if our government can keep us safe. God is systematically being removed from our country with prayer being taken out of school, many churches supporting the killing of babies, parents quit taking their children to church or teaching them about His Word, and now, elected officials forbidding churches to have services due to COVID-19. China is becoming a threat to the U. S. Again. Russia still is. Earthquakes and hurricanes are increasing in number and severity. The drought continues…
FEAR. Fear is an emotional response to threats and danger. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of pain. Fear can be described with different terms in relation to the degree of fear that is experienced. It varies from mild caution to extreme phobia and paranoia. Fear is related to a number of additional cognitive and emotional states including worry, anxiety, terror, horror, panic, and dread. As an individual emotional state, fear can affect the unconscious mind, where it can become manifested in the form of nightmares. Fear may also be experienced within a larger group or social network. In this way, personal fears are compounded by social influence to become mass hysteria. (Wikipedia, online http://en.wikipedia.org/)
SPIRIT OF FEAR. There is a spirit of fear as told to us in 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV) “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” that produces "fright, fear of death, shyness, rejection, a critical spirit, fear of man or what others think of you, fear of poverty, paranoia, lack of trust, abandonment, torments, faithlessness, inferiority, worry, tensions, migraine headaches, insanity, phobias, fear of pain, nightmares, timidity, inadequacy, anxiety, stress, performance, schizophrenia, idleness, and fear of men due to abuse." (Taken from the “Keys to Freedom.”)
Fear affects everyone at some point. Right now, in the midst of all this turmoil, fear is at an all-time high. We are afraid that we are: going to lose our jobs; not be able to feed our families; going to be hurt or killed by the virus; going to lose our homes, or our cars; going to be persecuted for believing in God; going to lose family members, crops or livestock to a natural disaster or COVID-19; not going to be able to send our children to school or college; not be able to pay our bills; going to be in a nuclear war with Iran, Korea, China or Russia...and question the governments’ “experts” about their inept attempt to control us as we navigate through this virus.
Think about this… what does our fear accomplish? Does it make things better? No. Does it stop the pandemic? No. Does it kill the threat of violence? No. Does it keep us from getting a pink slip at work? No. Does it put groceries on the table? No. Does it stop persecution of Christians? No. Does it stop hurricanes or fires? No. Does fear change one single thing? Yes. It changes us. It stops us in our tracks and makes us ineffective in living our lives. How has fear affected your life?
I know that at the beginning of 2008, when my husband was so sick, that I was worried (fearful) about our finances as well as his health. I did not know how we were going to be able to pay our bills if he was not working. Then, when it looked like we might make it, he was injured in an accident. More fear. The statements had not even come in, yet, for the medical bills that the insurance did not pay from the first illness. Then he had to have surgery stemming from the accident a couple of months later. More fear. That’s when we looked back and saw the hand of God in our provision. He does not tell us that He will give us everything we want, but everything we need.
It was hard, but we made it. Our insurance paid for a lot of the medical bills, but God revealed to us a benefit package that came with the policy that paid even more and then another little benefit that came with a credit card that paid a little more. He provided just enough work at just the right time as my husband felt like working. He pointed out different “storehouses” where we had put some of our “years-of-plenty” surplus. It took 9 months to even get a bill from the hospital, allowing us time to get our priorities figured out. Yes, my husband ended up having to do a job that he’s not crazy about, but at least he’s working. We have learned to be happy in the circumstances that we are in. We have learned to be even better stewards of the blessings that God has bestowed upon us. Do we still have trouble paying our bills? Yes, we were not good enough stewards the last few years and took on more debt than we should have, but we are getting what we need, if not what we want. Yes, it’s still hard. We have had to let go of a lot of things that we want or like to do. But we are not doing without anything important. We have what we need. We are no longer afraid that we won’t have what we need or that we will lose all that we have. It has made our marriage stronger and our trust in God.
Now, in July of 2020, the word “Vaccine” is supposed to be good news, but I no longer trust the CDC, especially since we are learning that there is a treatment for the Coronavirus, if we can just make people listen to the doctors that have used it and are out there shouting it from the rooftops, and then, ignore the CDC, forcing them to allow the doctors to use it. The doctors have overcome their fear, for the good of their patients. They are gathering together to help their voices be heard. Some are losing their jobs for it, but continue to tout the good news. We should be shouting it from the rooftops, as well.
So, as you go through this time of trial, try not to let the “spirit of fear” attack you or manifest itself in your life. Come against it and pray instead for God’s gifts of power, of love and of a sound mind. Trust that God knows what’s going on with you and wants His best for your life. He is our provision (Yahweh Yireh) and strong tower (Migdal-Oz) where we can rest, snuggled safely in His shadow. Be happy in the circumstances you are in and trust that good will come out of them. We are not promised another day, so even if the worst happens, I know that I will be with God, forever praising Him. So do not fear...know where you’re going and that God remains forever in charge.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust
in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all
your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.”
(Updated from 2008)