Lord, Are You Sure? New book by Marnie Pehrson - A roadmap for understanding what God is trying to teach you from life experiences and how to decipher what He wants you to do next. The Ebony Tree By: Maxine Thompson An African American novel about four generations of women in one family. It follows the mother-daughter relationship and how it was impacted by slavery. It deals with family secrets, alcoholism, depression, poverty and finally, triumph. The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis C.S. Lewis, the master apologist, tackles the question that has plagued humanity for centuries. If God is both omnipotent and good, how can we explain the pain and suffering that people experience daily? And what of the suffering of animals, who neither deserve pain nor can be improved by it? With compassion and insight, C.S. Lewis proposes reasonable answers to these critical theological problems, sharing his wisdom with those who seek true understanding.

Did you know that the phrase “Fear not” is in the Bible 365 times? I’ve heard it said that the Lord put that phrase in the Bible 365 times because he knew we would need to hear it at least once everyday. And I don’t know about you, but I have to fight the temptation to enter into fear all the time.

Fear and faith are opposing forces in the life of every believer. Our goal should be to feed our faith and starve our fear. Feeding our faith would consist of reading and meditating on the word of God, thereby bringing hope and building a strong foundation of confidence in God. Another way to feed our faith would be to do our best to stay positive and upbeat in the midst of possibly negative circumstances. I’m not suggesting putting on rose-colored glasses and living in a state of denial. But instead, that we would continually make the choice to believe that God has our very best in mind and is working in the midst of the problems we may be having. We’re making a conscious decision to remember all the times that the Lord has helped us in the past and to keep those memories and his word, before our eyes at all times.

Think of your faith like a fire that needs a continual supply of wood to keep it burning strong. The word of God and prayer is the fuel that we put on the fire. You may think “well, if I have a crises, then I’ll start seeking God”. But we are warned against this attitude in the parable of the wise and foolish builders found in Luke 6:46-49.

We are told in that parable that there were two builders. The first man heard the word of God and put it into practice in his life. He is like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. The second man heard the word but did not put it into practice. He is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The storms of life came to both men, but the first house stood up under the torrent while the second man’s house was instantly destroyed.

Hearing the word of God and putting it into practice means that even if you are facing some overwhelming circumstances in your life, you choose to believe that God’s word is true and that he is helping you. Trusting God is a firm foundation that you can build your whole life upon. When our trust and hope is in him then we can have a sustaining and abiding peace that doesn’t ebb and flow with the ups and downs of our lives.

One of the greatest weapons we have against fear is to persevere in the face of sweaty palms and a pounding heart. There are times when our fears are conquered in the simple act of doing repeatedly, the thing that caused us such alarm to begin with.

Recently one of my sisters conquered a long-standing fear of driving too close to cliffs, like those found in the canyons near her home. She has never cared for heights, so the drive to the beach by way of one of the many canyon passes really made her anxious and fearful. So for years she had taken the long way and avoided her fear. But lately she has gotten really sick of the inconvenience of that long drive and made the decision to face her fear and drive through the canyon. She was pleasantly surprised to find out that something she had dreaded for years, was not nearly so bad as she thought it would be. In fact just last week she did it again - but this time at night!

So often our fears have grown because they are given an inordinate amount of attention and thought. This is where starving our fears comes in. Again think of fear like a fire. Every time you make the choice to meditate on your problems and all the things that could happen (catastrophic expectations) you are adding fuel to the fire. Pretty soon you find yourself consumed with negative thoughts and you start to feel paralyzed with the frightening anticipation of what could happen if your worst fears are realized. But our aim should be to starve out and resist fear treating it like the enemy it is.

Whatever you’re facing today; whether it’s a relatively minor fear like driving over a canyon pass with looming cliffs or a seemingly insurmountable fear like that associated with a catastrophic diagnosis from your doctor; God is in charge! He loves you and will never leave you nor forsake you. No matter what the outcome of your particular situation, God’s best is that you look directly into the face of fear and say with confidence, God is my refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble, therefore I will not fear (Psalm 46:1-2).

Written by: Paula Friedrichsen
Paula Friedrichsen is a dynamic Christian Speaker and newspaper columnist from Mammoth Lakes, California. She has developed “The Abundant Life Seminar” to educate and inspire women toward greater fulfillment – spiritually, physically and relationally. To schedule her for your upcoming conference / retreat, or to learn more about this presentation (or other topics Paula speaks on) go to her website www.pfministries.com – or call 760-935-4295

The author may be contacted at http://www.pfministries.com info@pfministries.com.

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