Faith Over Fear

I’ve heard this mantra over the past couple of months. Maybe you’ve heard it too: facts, not fear.

At first it seemed comforting and logical. Yes, let’s arm ourselves with lots of facts, gather numbers and statistics, then make lots of scientific-sounding comparisons. I don’t know about you, but for me sometimes, the more facts I’ve gathered the more confused and fearful I’ve become.

Anyone?

The problem is that this situation is “novel”. Here’s how Merriam-Webster.com defines novel (adjective) in the context of medicine:

1 a: new and not resembling something formerly known or used

b: not previously identified

2: original or striking especially in conception or style

Honestly, I believe even the experts are dumbfounded. Their directives and decisions seem to change nearly daily. Not, in my opinion, because of deceit or incompetency, but because this thing is novel. They are adjusting to and incorporating new information as fast as they receive it. They have never been in this uncharted territory before either. So, when the experts change the narrative daily, and we are not receiving news of a certain and predictable future we want, we begin to spin.

So many people are understandably frustrated, and many have woven these facts, numbers, statistics into speculation that is not scientifically supported. I get it. We are all trying to make sense out of this novel situation. In an attempt to ease our fears and create a sense of control (and control is always just an illusion), we feel like we have to have answers. So, we start spinning – grasping and thrashing about mentally and emotionally trying to make sense of things, get answers we “need”, and achieve that illusive sense of control we want. And spinning is usually unproductive and leads to dizziness (confusion).

As a therapist, I’ve seen people who are usually well-grounded getting anxious, and anxious people getting down-right paranoid. While being informed is a necessary thing, we all need to be aware of when that search for answers turns into a need for control. When it moves from being informed to needing to control the narrative or predict the future, we’ve moved away from trusting God. It’s a delicate balance, for sure.

But here are a couple of things I am absolutely positive about. Are you ready?

God is still in control.

God is not shaken.

God is not taken by surprise.

And, to God, this thing is not novel.

Time after time when mankind has faced novel situations and just plain old everyday fears, God has been present and a comforter when He has been called upon.

Psalm 56:3 (NLT), “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.” This was penned by King David when he had been seized by enemies. I’m sure to David, things did not look or feel good or comforting. His words are some we can call upon and pray when the statistics do not make sense, numbers do not seem to add up, facts and propaganda feel overwhelming, the narrative feels untrustworthy, and we do not know what the future holds.

When I am afraid, I will put my trust (faith) in you. (emphasis and interpretation mine)

This requires a few things:

1. Believing that God is trustworthy; that His character is good, and He is for me and my good.

2. Recognizing that I am fearful/anxious/fill-in-the-blank.

3. Choosing to change my focus from fear to faith.

4. Decide to trust God. Making the object of my faith God’s character and goodness rather than what I see with my eyes, what my feelings might dictate, or what the circumstances might suggest – because all of those data points are less reliable than God.

We do not have to look very far in the Bible to find some novel situations where God showed up big time when people chose to put their trust (faith) in Him. I’m sure you can call up a few of those but if you’re drawing a blank, here’s a couple to look up on your own.

Genesis 17 - 21: Decades of Waiting, Promise Fulfilled (against all odds)

Exodus Chapters 1 – 14: People, Plagues, Pursuit, Passage (against all odds)

Luke 23 – 24: Death to Life (against all odds)

He’s a God who defies the statistical odds, over and over. Be comforted.

Looking for Something New?

COVID-19. The numbers are adding up, and as they increase, the intensity and fear can mount right with them. None of us living here in the industrialized world have ever experienced this kind of uncertainty and sudden loss. Everything that was typical is suddenly atypical.

If I listen to only the nightly news and my Facebook feed, the negativity and a sense of hopelessness can overtake and overwhelm. Many people are yearning for predictions that will tell us when this insanity stops, and things get back to normal.

Normal. What is normal, even? Is it “normal” to spend more time at work than we do talking to people we love? Is it “normal” to spend hours daily staring at backlit screens with fleeting images and anxiety-provoking talk? Has “normal” life led us to trust a job for identity, a bank account for security, friends for meaning, and a home for safety?

What happens when all of those things – in the span of a couple of weeks – suddenly seem like distant mirages?

I wonder if we have placed our ideals for identity, security, meaning, and safety – our hope, as it turns out – in things that are really of little lasting consequence?

What if identity, security, meaning, safety and hope come from a very different source? Maybe, just maybe “normal” needs to change.

World, turn your eyes from COVID-19 and toward God who has made everything from nothing and sustains it all with no effort whatsoever. That, friends, is where our hope comes from. He is God. From beginning to end, yesterday, today and tomorrow He never changes, never wavers, never turns His back.

Isaiah 43:13 (NLT), “From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one can undo what I have done.”

If we keep hanging our hopes on things that can vanish so quickly, what kind of fools are we? And while all those things can, and may vanish, Jesus does not.

Today is a good day to decide to be all-in with Jesus. To acknowledge that in these tumultuous times we need someone to count on, someone who can save us. Because let’s face it. Nobody escapes this life with skin on – whether physical death comes from COVID-19 or an aged worn out body, we all physically die.

But there’s no need to die spiritually. And we can decide to live freer lives when we invest in gaining knowledge and closeness with the God who saves. So, is today your day? Will you decide today that the old “normal” has to die, that a new normal is necessary? One in which Jesus is the Savior and necessary ingredient for living hope-fully?

I hope that today is your day because I’ve made that commitment and it’s the most awesome thing I’ve ever done. He does not promise it will be easy, however He does promise He will always walk with us through troubled waters.

Isaiah 43:19 (NLT), For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

Painful Past, Painful Present

Have you ever tried on a pair of glasses that were not yours? I have and the result was dizzying! Literally. People were unrecognizable, signs were unreadable, and dimensions and distances were very distorted. I never would be able to navigate life well with my vision so grossly out of whack.

Many of us have distorted vision without ever donning a pair of glasses not made for our eyes.

Past hurts and wounds have distorted the way our hearts and minds experience other peoples’ words, actions, and intentions. Often, we are the walking wounded, unaware of how skewed our perceptions are. Without an emotionally and spiritually mature friend to speak truth in love, sadly people may live their whole lives feeling injured by virtually everyone around them.

Most of the time, this tragic way of viewing the world is seated in the experiences we’ve had with primary caregivers – whether parents, grandparents or guardians. God wired us up to need and want nurture, protection, love, and acceptance. Infants need this to survive. Children need this to thrive. Adolescents need this to individuate healthily. Adults need it to navigate the world successfully and to engage healthily in intimate relationships and fulfilling friendships.

Without those ingredients of nurture, protection, love, and acceptance, the world and other people are perceived as dangerous, untrustworthy, rejecting, and unkind. The experience of life’s early training grounds reinforced those perceptions and, perhaps subconscious belief systems.

Take heart because the situation is far from hopeless! The first step in any recovery program goes something like this: “We admitted we were powerless over our addictions [substitute your problem] and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable”. (Celebrate Recovery, Step 1 – parenthetical words are mine)

So, try not to get hung up on the word “addictions”. Addictions is just another word for idols. And an idol is anything, anyone, or any behavior pattern that holds more power or higher belief status than God. So, in place of addiction, the problem might be anger, jealousy, money, work, television, or emotional volatility. It might be believing about yourself anything that is contrary to what God says is Truth about you. When looked at from that perspective, we all have idols, right?

Admitting there’s a problem; that the way we’ve tried to deal with it, ignore it, medicate it, mask it, act out about it, or numb it has not only not been ineffective – often it has made things worse! Deciding that all those ineffective ways of managing didn’t help and deciding to attend to another course of thought, feeling and behaving (Philippians 4:8-9 (NLT)).

Here is the path to freedom: Put God first and seek His help. Decide to learn to challenge those automatic negative beliefs with alternative thinking. Decide to learn what healthy personal boundaries look like and put them in place. Decide to get help with learning this and being accountable to it if you really want to live life in freedom. And work at it.

Hope. Help. Healing. It’s all available. Step into it and live your life in freedom.