Dealing with fear (5)

An old adage says, “Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.” It exaggerates the problem, and as a result, you expend valuable energy in ways you shouldn’t. For example, sometimes you avoid things that can’t really harm you at all. Like the man who returned to his vacation cabin from a hike, badly scratched and bruised. “What happened?” his wife asked. “I met a snake on the trail,” he answered. “Don’t you remember,” his wife responded, “the park ranger told us yesterday that none of the snakes up here are poisonous?” Her husband replied, “They don’t have to be poisonous if they can make you jump off a twenty-foot cliff!” Clearly the man’s fear—not the snake—was the problem. Charles Spurgeon once said, “Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but…today of its strengths.” As long as you allow fear to take the wheel, you’ll never go where God wants to take you or discover and develop the talents He has placed within you. And here’s the great thing: God will help you to confront and conquer the fears that are controlling you. David the giant slayer, author of Psalms and Israel’s beloved king, often found himself with his back to the wall. Writing about such an occasion, he said, “Make haste to help me…Lord” (Psalm 38:22 NKJV). “Be pleased…to deliver me” (Psalm 40:13 NKJV). But David knew who to turn to: “The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” When God is the source of your strength, you can face your worst fears and overcome them.