Welcome back! I’d love to hear what you learned in your study of last week’s look at the Antidote to our fears. Share what you discovered or if there’s a favorite verse you use as your antidote to fears.
Since we’ve laid the foundation of truth and love, we’re going to tackle what some of our deepest fears are over the next few weeks and find out what Scripture says about them.
Let’s start with some big ones. Raise your hand if you love the unknown?
No, not your favorite thing. Mine either. I like knowing where the ship is sailing. Inevitably, it gets knocked off course and I’m in the middle of the ocean unsure of where I’m going to land.
Are you scared because you don’t know which college you’ll get into? Are you worried about where you’ll buy a house you can afford? Are you tying yourself in knots over any number of questions about your life and family and work?
I’m good at living in fear over the unknown. I work in the energy industry as do many of my good friends. If you’ve read any news headline in the past year, then you know the industry is struggling. Many of my friends have lost good jobs and are sitting in the middle of unknown alley. I have no idea how continued sector losses may impact me directly.
When these seasons of unknown come, our default setting is often fear.
It’s time to change our default.
God already knows the answers to the questions. He has absolute certainty of the outcome even in the midst of our uncertain horizon. He says:
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters…
He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me. II Sam. 22:17, 20
Make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves.
For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. Luke 21: 14-15
In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:37
When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one as well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future. Eccles. 7:13
Who am I, Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?
And as if this were not enough in your sight, my God,
you have spoken about the future of the house of your servant.
You, Lord God, have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men. II Chron. 17:16-17
Last fall, I entered a very unknowable season. I believed the unknown wasn’t by accident but instead by God’s divine hand who specifically planned for me not to know exactly what was next. For a person who loves knowing (and controlling, that’s next week!), the unknown also introduced extraordinary amounts of fear. In fact, I realize looking back now how my most crippling fear (which birthed this study) began this time last year as I moved into a season of not knowing what was next.
At the beginning of this period, I began my first study of Mark Batterson’s Draw the Circle: The 40 Day Prayer Challenge. In his study, Mark encourages you to physically draw a circle around what you are praying over. So deep had I moved into the unknown that the only word God impressed upon me to write down was “spacious place.”
I had no specific game plan. My typical master career planning shut down. My steps to become a better wife or mother or me evaporated. It became clear I had to take a break from my speaking and book goals. I walked into the quiet unknown. And I kept coming back to the words of David as he celebrated being brought into a spacious place.
David had just exited a dark unknown season. He knew he was called to be king, but the current king wanted him dead. David was living the life of a fugitive unsure of how God could fulfill His promise of a crown. David cried out in his distress and fear, and God brought David “into a spacious place and rescued me because He delighted in me…[He] turns my darkness into light…[He] provided a broad path for my feet so my ankles do not give way…” (II Samuel 22)
This is God’s promise to each of us. He knows our future. He has a promise to fulfill through us. He will give us hope in place of the fear if we will trust His knowing in lieu of our having to know what’s next.
Homework:
Read David’s insightful prayer of thankfulness in II Samuel following his dark season of unknown once King Saul died.
Consider starting a daily devotional where your mind has a daily reminder God holds your future and has a great plan for your life. Mediate on the words you uncover to combat the fear of what will come next.
Share what you’re learning in the comments here or on the Facebook post.
{To follow this study, you can enter your email to subscribe to the blog or follow our conversation on Facebook. This study is only intended to focus on what God says about fear. If you suffer from crippling anxiety, I encourage you to visit your doctor.}
Great post!!
Thanks so much Shavonnah!