“Whenever I am afraid I will trust in you.” Psalm 56:3
A week ago yesterday I found myself in room 262 anxiously awaiting the birth of our new baby girl.
Ironically, as of yesterday, I’ve found myself back in this same hospital room. Only this time it’s not for an exciting reason. This time it’s for a worrisome one, as we try to figure out what’s going on with my blood pressure.
Life has a way of throwing us curve balls, doesn’t it? Things don’t always work out the way we hoped or imagined they would. Sometimes where we thought we’d be is nowhere close to where we find ourselves.
And it’s hard. It’s hard when disappointments come. It’s hard when the winds aren’t at our backs but are slapping us in the face instead. It’s hard when we hear a scary diagnosis or when our marriage is in turmoil or when a financial crisis strikes.
It’s hard, and it’s easy to turn to fear. It’s easy in these moments or these seasons to allow fear to control the thoughts in our minds. It’s easy to allow all the “what if’s” to reign.
And I’d be lying to you if I acted like I haven’t experienced my moments of fear over the last few days. I have. I’ve cried as I’ve left my older kids and my newborn baby at home to go to the hospital. I’ve worried about what will happen.
It’s natural in our humanness to worry about things. It’s natural to be afraid. But we must remember we know and love an almighty God.
So though it may be natural for us to feel certain things, we choose whether or not we stay there in those feelings. We choose whether the voice of fear will rule our day or the voice of truth. We choose whether the voice of worry will keep us up at night or the voice of peace.
I don’t say this lightly…as if it’s always easy. I get that it’s not. It hasn’t been for me these last few days. But when my thoughts have turned toward worry, God has continued to bring this verse to mind. “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in you.”
God is trustworthy. God is present. God is able. And God loves me, and He loves you. So whatever you may be going through tonight remember this…We don’t have to live in fear. We can trust Him. And we can rest in His presence and His promises tonight.
