When I Am Afraid, I Put My Trust In You
Anxiety Causes Depression
PSALM 56:1-4
“Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; Fighting all day he oppresses me. My enemies would hound me all day, For there are many who fight against me, O Most High. Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?
”Psalms 56:1-4 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/psa.56.1-4.NKJ
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During his overwhelming sense of loss, his time as a fugitive in a foreign land, David cried to God for mercy.
At that time, David fled from Saul to Philistine territory; he had to pretend insanity before Achish when some servants became suspicious of him (1 SAMUEL 21:10-15).
David was constantly under attack, but he decided that when afraid, he would put his trust in God.
Fear, like hot is the opposite of cold, and is the opposite of faith.
But here’s the thing, with a mustard seed of faith, we can say to every mountain move, including that mountain of fear in you, and it will be gone.
If one claims to believe on Christ he has at least a mustard seed of faith, if not, he doesn’t believe at all.
Therefore one can choose to use that mustard seed of faith and remove the anxiety and fear that take us to discontent and wrong decisions.
The disciples were confused when they failed to evict demons from a young boy and privately asked Jesus why. ; ”So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.“
Matthew 17:20 NKJV
We all experience unbelief at times when facing extremities as did David.
Despite his courage to face even wild bears as a shepherd, and the giant Goliath who put an whole army into fear (1 SAMUEL 17:50-53), he struggled with unbelief at times and allowed fear to crepe in.
But his response to such fear was to ask himself, “What can mere mortals do to me,” he realised they can afflict pain and suffering, and even death, but they cannot rob us of our souls or our eternal future. God has us firmly in His hand and these trials and tribulations come with purpose and are all temporary.
In today’s world of darkness there’s much to bring fear upon us; war and the threat of wars; crashing financial systems and health systems; the lawlessness of the world, sickness and death. We all have giants in our lives, but the truth is, even in these extreme circumstances that we face today, we can keep our peace and joy; “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
II Timothy 1:7 NKJV
Fear is not only the opposite of faith, but the fuel of depression and heaviness.
“Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.”
Proverbs 12:25 NKJV
If you are living in fear or becoming depressed, ask God to restore your spirit of power, love, and of a sound mind.
By keeping calm and patiently waiting and listening, God will instruct our every step, all we need do is ask and then follow the leading of the Spirit. By trusting Him, we can be confident that we are safe in His hands.
To simply seek God and His righteousness will bring all provision, not some, but all will be added to you (MATHEW 6:33), but when fear comes in and our faith is depleted, we can expect nothing from God.
Like David we can take with us five smooth stones, that represent the five fold ministry of Christ, and be ready to choose the one stone needed, the right word or Scripture, place it in our sling and throw it at the giant in our life. That’s the word of God and by speaking it over our situation, we throw a stone of victory at the giant in our life and bring it down.
The head of the enemy becomes crushed under the heal of the woman, the church (GENESIS 3:15).
But on the other hand, if we allow our emotions to influence our decisions, we are likely to fall into fear and dismay and respond to our situations by way of the flesh, rejecting the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Our responses shall come from our emotions, such as fear, anger, rage, and our ambitions will do nothing except attempt to satisfy the lust of the flesh. In deed, one might even run from the church and be separated completely, allowing the wolves to come and devour their victim.
Therefore, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
I Peter 5:8-11 NKJV
We are not giving a back plate to run from our giants, but rather, a breast plate to protect us when we confront them.
We so easily justify running with excuses like “I need space or time out,” but running from our problems will never deal with them and one will remain bound until it is confronted.
Putting our trust in ourselves achieves nothing good.
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
Galatians 5:16-24, 26 NKJV
The devil, like the fake news media, always attacks our emotions with lies and half truths to bring rage, anger, and fear into our situations, anything that will mislead people into believing his lies, to bring anger, rage, hate, confusion, gossip, discontent and division. He also uses our emotions to bring responses like alcohol, drugs, and sexual immorality, and other addictions to bury our problems completely.
We without doubt, harm ourselves by rejecting God when we choose walk according to the flesh.
Therefore my beloved, walk in the Spirit and put the lust of the flesh to death (GALATIANS 5:16-18).
Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul” (MATHEW 10:28).
Instead we should fear God, who is in control of everything in this life and of the next.
I encourage you, whatever you are facing right now, however extreme it may seem; you may not understand why or what is happening, but I assure you, God knows about it and He is in control. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28 NKJV
The truth is, when you put your trust in God alone, the victory becomes yours through Jesus Christ who is our strength (1 CORINTHIANS 15:55-58).
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
