Phobics Apply Here
By Elin Henderson
“Whenever I am afraid, I will TRUST in You.”
Psalm 56:3 (NKJV)
We all have our list of “phobias,” don’t we? They run the gamut: fear of spiders, rats, feet, germs, or more serious things like cancer and terrorists. I confess my list of phobias and fears have dwindled after seven years in the African bush, but that is out of necessity, not as a result of therapy! Let’s face it, we are a phobic generation! Just look at our obsession for insurances, security systems, sunscreen, antibacterial everything…and avoiding public speaking at all cost!
We are not alone in our fears. The Bible’s King David is with us. If you have ever studied his life, you probably remember that he knew a little something about fear. He expresses it briefly in Psalm 56.
… My enemies would hound me all day, there are many who fight against me…(v. 2)
… they twist my words…(v. 5)
… they lie in wait. (v. 6)
Many of us know exactly what it feels like to be hounded by an enemy, and are familiar with the fear it brings. How did David react to this fear? TRUST! The antidote to fear is TRUST. Trust, not in a distant indifferent God, but in the God David trusted. The One who “numbers my wanderings and puts my tears in a bottle…(vs.8),” a God who knows us intimately and cares for us implicitly.
It can be a scary world that we live in today. Besides our petty personal fears (for me, snakes and rats), there are plenty of real fears that can easily consume and paralyze us. The question for us is: What are we doing about those fears? Only when we can TRUST in the One who is bigger than our fears will we find victory! Then we can boldly say with David, “In God I have put my TRUST; I will not be afraid” (vs. 11a).
GOING DEEPER:
1. Take a sheet of paper and fold it in half. On one side, make a list of your top fears. On the other side, list how God is bigger than those fears. If you have time, add Scripture verses that back up your answers. Keep this sheet of paper on hand. When one of those fears crops up, TRUST in the One who is able to handle them. This will also allow you, when others share their fears with you, to be prepared to point them to the Lord.
2. Share these verses from Psalm 56 with someone else today.
Hebrews 13:6; II Timothy 1:7; Romans 8:15
Oakwood’s missionaries Elin Henderson and her husband Phil serve as church planters with New Tribes in Mozambique, Africa. Elin is mother to eleven-year-old Callie and nine-year-old Elias.
