Are you afraid?

Fear is defined in the dictionary as, “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.” Excuse me for a moment as I get all “counsely,” but fear is one of those emotions that initiates the sympathetic nervous system, causing a fight, flight, or freeze response. It produces a change in blood pressure, oxygen level, breathing, and a plethora of other physiological responses in our bodies that makes it possible for us to get the heck out of Dodge if needed.

Sometimes fear is justified – like when you are being chased by a big, gnarly bear with giant teeth wanting to call you “lunch.” Or when you have just gotten news that your loved one has been in a terrible accident and is in surgery in the hospital. Or when you are down to your last dollar and have kids to feed and rent to pay. Justifiable fear in all regards.

But sometimes fear is really just a perception of danger – like when you walk around the corner in your yard and out of the corner of your eye, you see your garden hose coiled up and think it’s a snake, or when you hear a car backfire, and you think you heard gunshots. These are instantaneous, yet unfounded fears once the truth has been revealed.

And other times, we don’t really know the outcome of something, but we fear the unknown. What will happen if I fail this test? What if I put all my savings into this investment and it fails? For me, and I would guess many of you, this is what happens when we think about, or maybe are asked to make big changes in our lives. Our perception that there could be imminent danger should we move in a specific direction may cause us to reject any thought of making a change (fight or flight), or prompt us to get stuck in a vicious and confusing cycle of uncertainty (freeze). I struggled in this space for a bit as I thought about accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I knew what that commitment meant, and I just wasn’t sure I was ready to face the giants that would come along with it.

I was married to a man who was not a Christian, but at the time, neither was I, so we were happy in our non-Christian lives. We both knew who Jesus was, sort of, and we were living a good life – we were generous with our resources, we loved people, we were law-abiding citizens, and we worked hard to support our family. We taught our children how to be “good people,” and we were worked hard to instill good morals and values in them. But we were also, in many ways, living overtly sinful lives – we smoked, we drank alcohol to excess, we cursed, and we made the almighty dollar our god of choice. We never attended church, or even thought about God until we were in some sort of “crisis,” and even then, it was just a mere mention – “God, help us.” Because we were successful financially, not wealthy by US standards, but certainly able to provide well for our family and buy new car tires if ours failed us, we were always able to get ourselves out of whatever “crisis” situation was happening. Until we couldn’t…

One of our children suffered a sports injury that ended her sports career, caused her to have to endure eight surgeries, and threw her into a deep mental health crisis in which she was contemplating suicide. That was my moment of clarity, and also of extreme fear – “Jesus, you can have my life and all of me, but please, save my daughter.” Of course, Jesus came through – He always does. (As a counselor, I always steer my clients away from words like “always” and “never,” but in this case, I do mean always.) He brought us to the right doctors and counselors, and my daughter improved greatly in a very short period of time. That was when my fear kicked in about what I had said to Jesus. I had seen the miracle He worked in my daughter, but now, to really give all of my life to Him, I would have to face gigantic giants, all in the names of my family. What if they reject me? Do I really have to quit smoking and drinking? But I love “R” rated movies. Will I lose everything?

As I think back to my response, it reminds me of what the Israelites went through the first time they approached Canaan. God had promised to rescue them and to bring them to “the land flowing with milk and honey.” In Exodus 6:4-8, God spoke to Moses and told him that he heard the grumblings of the Israelites, and just as he had promised their forefathers, he would rescue them from hand of the Egyptians, and bring them to the promised land. In fact, in verse 6, God could not have been more clear as He spoke to Moses, “I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.” And, just as God always does, He followed through on His promise to rescue them, and did so in a way that there was no mistaking His handiwork. Between the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea and the subsequent destruction of the Egyptians in that same sea, the provision of manna, and the raining down of quail, there was no way the Israelites did not understand the power of our God. Think about it, because of their grumbling, God rained quail down literally three foot deep, feeding more than 600,000 people with 10 quail each. That is 6,000,000 quail!

And yet, as we humans can tend to do, they doubted. In Numbers 13, God spoke to Moses and told him to send spies into Canaan (the Promised Land). I find it interesting that God commanded Moses to send spies to check it out, rather than just doing more God things and opening the doors for them. I think God wanted the Israelites to recognize that He is bigger than any obstacle put in their way and wanted them to move in faith. I believe God wanted the Israelites to trust in Him alone, not their own resources, before blessing them with the land. He had certainly shown Himself to be faithful, but would they?

As it turns out, they would not. The spies returned with stories of amazing land, bringing with them a single cluster of grapes so large that it needed to be carried by two people on a pole. And yet, they were afraid. They spoke of very large and strong people, and in verse 32, reported, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height…and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” And they fled. They froze. They refused to trust God, even though they had seen many miracles. And because of their fear, the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years, delaying God’s promised blessing.

Let’s go back and revisit our fears, your fears. Scripture is clear that in this life, we will experience pain, and trouble. But God also promises that he will never leave us or forsake us. He promises that “He will wipe every tear from their eyes,” (Revelation 21:4), and that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us,” (Romans 8:18), and that, “this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,” (2 Corinthians 4:17). He tells us in Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand,” and commands us in Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” These, and so many more, are promises that we can circle, that we can rely on, that we can land on each and every time, without a doubt.

So, I listened, and I used that little mustard seed of faith I had, and with teeth clenched and grip tight, I chose to let my fears rest on the only one powerful enough to save me should my family desert me when I decided to dive all in for Christ. I knew I couldn’t change me into what He wanted, but I also knew that He could change me, just like He had changed my daughter. It wasn’t easy at first to trust in a God I couldn’t see, or to believe that He would fulfill the promises He made in Scripture, but I was a woman of my word, and it was important for me to follow through on what I had promised Jesus. I was also afraid that if I didn’t follow through, He would undo what He did in saving my daughter, allowing her to wander in the desert of mental illness for forty years. But as I dove in, the land flowing with milk and honey became mine, the fruit He provided to me, and through me, was enormous, and the peace I received, even in the hardest of times, was unfathomable. Each day, trust becomes easier, and faith becomes stronger, and Jesus continues to whisper His promises in my ear. Life is still hard sometimes, but not nearly as hard as it was without Jesus, and He has never given me more than He can handle.

I ask you –

What is the giant keeping you from experiencing the fullness of God’s promises to you?

Are your fears justified, or are they perceived, or are they of the unknown?

What might it look like to give that fear that is keeping you in fight, flight, or freeze mode to Jesus, and just trust in Him?

What is your alternative plan, and is it worth the risk?