Overcoming the Fear Factor

Worry, fear, and anxiety were never meant to be a part of our vocabulary, and yet most of us worry more than we’d care to admit. What are you afraid of? Are you scared of waking up to an intruder in the middle of the night? Perhaps it’s flying on an airplane. Maybe it’s the fear of sending your child off to college. Perhaps your greatest fear is not being able to provide for your family. Most of us can find something that haunts us.

Panic best describes the emotion I felt when the nurse rolled Jimmy out into the living room. Both of his legs and most of his fingers had been amputated. Jimmy was the father of my son’s friend. Beset with diabetes, he was at the end of his life, but refused to let go. Concerned about whether Jimmy knew the Lord or not, I had phoned his wife, Juanita, and asked if I could visit him. I wanted to be sure that Jimmy would meet his Creator as Savior and not as Judge.

Jimmy’s deteriorating condition took me by surprise. When I saw him I was terrified. I whispered to the Lord under my breath, "Oh, God, how can I minister to this man when I don't know what he's been through?" Even though I was scared stiff, somehow I knew God would show up to do what I couldn’t do. That’s exactly what He did because God has given us this promise. ““I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).

As Jimmy and I talked, it was apparent that he knew the Father, but I sensed there was more. We weren’t far into our conversation when I discovered the real trouble with Jimmy — he was afraid to die.

I told Jimmy Bible stories about God sending angels to people in need, people just like him. Those angels had a special message: “Fear not, for God is with you!” As I shared with Jimmy, peace washed over his face as he received the message for himself.

At Jimmy's funeral his wife shared Jimmy’s last moments with me. Jimmy would often wake from his sleep wide-eyed and call out, "I'm afraid!" Juanita would pat him gently and remind him of God's promise: "Don't be afraid, Jimmy. God is with you." Then he would sleep again. The last time Jimmy opened his eyes, he just stared at the ceiling. His wife asked, "Jimmy, are you afraid?" Jimmy whispered, "No, I'm not afraid. I'm just looking at the angels." With that, Jimmy stepped from this world into the next.

I find it interesting that while Jimmy’s outcome didn’t change, the way he experienced death changed because he trusted in the promise of God. I experienced this same truth in my life. Even though I pleaded with God to save my first husband from death, it wasn’t God’s plan. Yet I chose to trust God’s purpose. In spite of my fear, I chose to believe what I couldn’t understand. Doing so changed the way I journeyed through life and the valley of death. I had a companion named Jesus.

Jimmy’s story reminds me that when I’m afraid, I need not fret because the same promise God made to Jimmy, He makes to you and me: “Fear not, child, for I am with you.” In fact, did you know that the phrase “fear not” is stated in the Bible 366 times? That’s one “fear not” for every day of the year, with one extra left over for those really hard days. Why does God faithfully remind us over and over to “fear not”? He does so because we are not created to live in fear. Second Timothy 1:7 tells us, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” You and I were created to live by faith, and in God, we have all the power we need for a faith that is stronger than all our fears.

It’s a Problem of Faith

The truth is, most of what we worry about never comes to pass, but we insist on tormenting ourselves anyway. Worrying about what may or may not happen can nearly drive us crazy. A lot can go wrong in life, but God doesn’t want us to become worrywarts.

It takes faith to battle fear and learn to live with assurance in a God we can bank on. Unfortunately, most people go through life missing opportunities because they’re afraid to really live the way God intended. Fear becomes a stumbling block that leaves us with regrets. Relying on our faith allows us to live fearlessly.

False Advertisement

My youngest son loves chocolate milk. One day as I stirred syrup into a tall glass of milk, I noticed that the label on the bottle read “Genuine Artificial Flavor.” I was shocked! What appeared to be look and taste real was actually artificial! I felt cheated and deceived. This was false advertisement.

In the same way, the father of lies specializes in false advertisement. He’s good at making our fears look real when they are not. In fact, Satan’s greatest tool for causing us to doubt God’s protection is the fear that God will not follow through with His promises. The Enemy works hard to convince us that God is too busy to do anything about our concerns. If anything is going to be done about our situation, we’ll have to do it ourselves. Like the boogeyman, Satan’s spooks are all smoke and mirrors. We can easily expose his trickery by determining if there is really something to fear or if our concerns are simply…

False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

This acrostic for fear is the kind of shock wave Satan uses to stun us. While the sting of fright feels real, in truth it’s merely the trickery of Satan that gets our heart pounding. It’s important for you and me to determine if our fears are real or simply Satan’s hocus-pocus. If it’s a real concern, I heed its warning. On the other hand, if my worry is false evidence that just appears real, then I know the Enemy is involved.

You may be skeptical right now, but when you realize you were created for faith, not fear, things will begin to change for you. You’ll learn how to rely on God’s care while giving Him your cares, you’ll be able to identify His goodness and mercy in your life, and you’ll overcome your fears of loneliness and insecurity. Before you know it, you’ll be able to say along with Paul, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

- Micca Campbell, An Untroubled Heart: Finding a Faith That Is Stronger Than All My Fears

Father's Love

A gentle hand to just demonstrate and teach when it is needed

A gentle hand on the shoulders while crossing the road

Simple and yet heart warming gestures of a Father's Love

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

I begin with an endearing term of relationship, 'Father'. Remind me today that you live and reign, not in heaven only but all around me and in my life. Make me aware of your active presence all day, in all my undertakings and in the people I meet.

Hallowed by your name,

How can i recognise you - in the splendour of nature, in the odd mix of people I meet, in the still voice that calls me to be more like you? May I 'hallow' what lies before me, by consciously referring it to you, and also honour your perfection, your holiness, by seeking to become more like you.

Your kingdom come,

Yes, and allow me to be an agent of that kingdom by bringing peace to the anxious, grace to the needy and your love to all whom i touch. May people believe in your reign of goodness because of how I live today.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

I see that will most clearly in Jesus, who healed the sick and comforted the grieving, who lifted up the downtrodden, who stood always for life and not death, for hope and not despair, for freedom and not bondage. He lived out heaven's will on earth. Help me be like Jesus

Give us today our daily bread.

We have no guarantee of a day beyond this one. May i trust you for what I need today nourishment for both today and soul, and not worry about future needs and wants. May I also be ever responsive to those who lack bread today.

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Remind me of my true state, as a debtor who can never buy my way into your favour. Thank God, I do not have to. Grant me the same attitude of forgiving grace towards those who own me, and who have wronged me, that you show towards me.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Let me not slide mindlessly towards evil today.Make me alert to its temptations and strong to resist it, with neither fear nor regret.

- Prayer, Does it make any difference ?

Honoring God

Probably the most important thing that negative emotions reveal is our own self-centeredness. We need to admit our level of self-centeredness, because out of such an admission comes the freedom to refocus our expectations away from God's creation and onto God Himself.

God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.
- Mother Teresa

Loving one another truly

"The most insecure people are those who can't distance themselves from their loved ones enough to discipline them. Loving discipline may put a temporary emotional distance between people, but if we balance that hard-side correction with softness, we won't lose love. If anything, we'll enrich it." - Gary and Norma Smalley

Why Jesus Prayed

I look first to Jesus for clues to the mysteries of faith, and regarding prayer he did not seem to share some of my biggest struggles. He never wondered whether God exists, whether anyone is truly listening. He never questioned the importance of prayer; indeed, he would flee a crowd of needy people in order to spend time alone with God, and sometimes devote all night to the task. The way Jesus talked, prayer made everything else possible.

Jesus seemed fully at ease with the Father and at unease with the world. For him, prayer provided a refreshing reminder of cosmic reality, the 'view from above' so often obscured on planet earth. Sometimes Jesus reminisced about that hidden realm: praying at supper the night of his arrest he recalled 'the glory I had with you before the world began'. Occasionally he felt such frustration with conditions on earth that he would let loose with a sigh: 'O unbelieving generation, how long shall I put up with you?' Jesus came from a place where God's command met no opposition; he knew exactly what he was asking when he instructed us to pray, 'your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'

Just as Jesus reminisced about his suspended identity, in a few rare instances the Father brought it tenderly to mind. 'You are my son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased,' God said as Jesus emerged from the water at his baptism. He heard a similar word of reinforcement at the Mount of Transfiguration - a close encounter that left his disciples face-down on the ground, terrified - and yet another at a melancholy moment shortly before his death. Each time, bystanders heard the voice and were startled by the phenomenon. Jesus, a refugee from heaven, felt comfort, not astonishment.

From his thirty-something years on earth, we have only these three glimpses of a supernatural boost. The rest of the time, for spiritual nourishment Jesus relied on the very thing we reply on: prayer. Jesus counted on prayer as a source of strength that equipped him to carry out a partnership with God the Father on earth. Jesus freely admitted his dependence: 'the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing.'

In a telling comment Jesus also said, 'your Father knows what you need before you ask him.' He could not mean that prayer is unnecessary, for his own life belied that. He could only mean that we need not strive to convince God to care; the Father already cares, more than we can know. Prayer is not a matter of giving God new information. Instead of presenting requests as if God may not know them, it might be more appropriate to say 'God, you know I need this!'

And this is how Tim Stafford found a sort of resolution to his questions about prayer:

Here, I believe, is the key to understanding what is most personal in prayer. We do not pray to tell God what he does not know, nor to remind him of things he has forgotten. He already cares for the things we pray about ..... He has simply been waiting for us to care about them with him. When we pray, we stand by God and look with him towards people and problems. When we lift our eyes from them towards him, we do so with loving praise, just as we look towards our oldest and dearest friends and tell them, though they already it .... We speak to him as we speak to our most intimate friends - so that we can commune together in love.

- Prayer : Does it make any difference

January 09

Yes I'm quite free at the moment so a look back of 1 month is possible. Then again, its not like it's a happening month anyway, haha.

Finally managed to really rest this month after hectic schedules @ the tail end of 08 and rest means not going out @ all. To be able to stay @ home from Mon to Fri till cell grp feels awesome. It's like a hermit who hid in the cave and is out after his training, lol. The rest was necessary though, health hasn't been great recently, must be due to age catching up, all the exercises and i still fall sick. For now, it's back to normal so can enjoy the CNY better, Yeah !

This month aside, the time i've left before i eventually find and start work is short. The freedom is something i'll definitely miss but the most impt part is being able to spend time with my parents. Once you work, u have so little time even to yourself, i'm treasuring every moment of it for now ! Will work out an internal plan in order to still give time to family and friends, that's for sure. Where did i put my checklist ah, hehe.

I've been blessed lots for a few mths alrdy, not having to plan or organise gatherings or meet ups much with ppl. It's always the other way rd, kind of enjoy it lots but ya, i need to play my part as well in maintaining friendships so i'm back to the usual routine le, haha. It's necessary, after all, with cell grp on fri, svcs on sat, the time to even talk to someone isnt always readily available. I can come to church earlier and leave later than most and in betw, those who r ard on sat, you don't really catch them after service at all. So wat's the next best option, msn or facebook lo, but still face to face is the best. Never mind, if last year, i had all sorts of funny combo of ppl to hang out with, i'm sure God will plan it out this year as well if its in accordance to his plan. It should be an interesting year ahead in knowing ppl better.

January, it means a new time slot for service and till now, i totally don't know how does it feel like ! Finally, this coming sat can be down for a proper time till mar, yes ! Don't let John know i said that, haha. Still, God has assured me and it's great to have the joy again to serve in this ministry and to experience the different type of challenges presented when u try to teach very young kids. 1 of the gd things is they are very entu, so its easy to get them to learn though listening to the lesson is a totally new ball game. Learning how to be stricter 1st then can befriend them, that's wat the teachers/parents themselves say, their own kids included. It's been fun and getting to learn about God in different ways as well. Sometimes, the lessons which are so simple to understand for ppl like us are the most difficult to apply even if on the surface we say we agree to it. So yes, when u have the most honest and frank ppl ard you, you'll learn you need to improve on things if they do point it out and yes they point it out to you in front of everyone! It's a blessing i haven't been on the receiving end yet of major things, hopefully never!

That's that for jan. Not too much happenings. Now is CNY period, so mtg up with relatives and friends will be a gd time of catching up. May each one of you who read this post too be blessed and recharged by the Lord during these few days of rest from your usual hectic work life.