What do you fear most?

What do you fear most? Failure perhaps. Or rejection by friends. Many fear loss of a job or a home. Some are scared to death of death. What is it that causes your knees to knock together? What gets your heart thumping? What gives you sweaty palms?

Whatever your greatest fear is, aren’t there are times when it nearly paralyzes you? In some cases, that paralysis isn’t a big deal. Your family wants to visit the herpetarium at the zoo. Your fear of snakes makes your blood run cold and you miss out on a few minutes with your 3-year-old who giggles with her grandpa as she points at the “pretty” hooded cobra behind glass. A small loss in the long run.

But there are other times when your “freeze up” can be a major problem. You watch as your friends torment the geek in the hallway at school. You want to speak up for him, to tell them to stop, but you don’t. You’re afraid you’ll be ridiculed or rejected, so you remain silent and the harassment continues. The young man grows up and becomes your hard-to-please boss.

You sense God prompting you to pray with a hurting coworker. You want to, but company policy prohibits unsolicited religious expression. You don’t want to lose your job, so you pat her on the shoulder and walk away. You’ll just pray silently, you think as a tear slips down your cheek.

A Sunday School teacher starts spouting off false teaching. You know what he’s saying is bunk, but you don’t want to rock the boat so you just quietly slip away to another church. Your faith and doctrine are still intact, but a dozen biblically illiterate folks are led astray. They will spend eternity apart from God’s blessing because of this man’s teaching and your unwillingness to confront.

Fearful failure to act when courageous conduct is called for can have terrible, even eternal, consequences.

So what do you do when action is called for and fear strikes? Or maybe the better question is what can you do when action is called for and fear strikes?

The quick answer is trust God and move forward, but that’s easier said than done. I mean why should you trust God? Yeah, he made the universe and all that, but can he handle every difficulty you face? Does he even care enough to step in when you’re stressed about a situation?

The answer to both those questions is, I assure you, yes! He can handle your current troubles and any future problems that arise. And he does care enough to step in when fear grips your heart or mine. He always acts in his children’s best interest. He is doing what’s going to make you most like Jesus. That’s why sometimes he allows fearful situations to come our way. We grow most when life is hardest.

God is with you today. Trust him no matter what situation may arise. Pray when things are tough. Praise when God sees you through.

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