Fear and Trust
How do we even
begin to slay our giants? Sometimes it
seems like we are all alone in facing our Goliaths. The challenges of today are so daunting that
we easily become faint of heart. We
throw up our hands and cry out – Why? Where
is God right now?! Unemployment
overshadows the hope of paying the bills and putting food on the table. Homelessness continues to create fear and
challenges community systems. Church denominations are divided in seeking
Christian unity. Cancer taunts our friends
and family. Broken relationships strain
our marriages and family dynamics. Discipline
problems and bullying threaten the education and self‐worth of our
children. The list goes on and on and
on.
How, as
disciples, can we have faith in God? You
know in Hebrew there is no such word for faith…no need for it! They all knew God existed! The word relates to trusting! That’s the question - How can we really trust
God? Isn’t trust the basis for ALL
relationships? So how do we trust God
with all the things we face each and every day that can stop us DEAD right in
our tracks?
God chose an
unlikely partner. God chose one who
appeared to be weak. God chose one who
stood in God’s strength – not the strength of their own perceived power, self-reliance
and self-righteousness, not the strength of ego and pride. David stood up in this moment to the
Philistines in order to bring God’s triumph and peace to his people. …and he
did it with a small smooth stone.
Stones are
significant in Scripture. Stones were
often markers of God’s presence and action; helping God’s people to remember what
God had done in their lives! Sort of
like monuments today. God had been
calling Israel to be living stones to show the world that God was right there
in their midst…and here this lowly shepherd boy reaches for a small stone to
remember and to know that God was with him; that he was not standing against
all the chaos and evil in the world alone - but rather God was there too.
How are we
called to be standing stones - reminders of God working in and through our
lives? Do others see in us the love of
Jesus being poured out into the world?
Do we witness how God has worked in our lives…sometimes as large as a
monument… sometimes as small as a pebble? But no matter how big or small - God is there…although
sometimes we may not see it. God is not
far far away but acting in the world in ways we can only imagine. And in sharing our stories - we come to show others
that they too might come to believe and trust in the living God –especially
when facing their own giants.
It’s
interesting that the scriptures time and time again say do not be afraid…365
times! Which is not to say that there
are not fearsome things in the world…rather God chooses to tell His children - as
a mother would whisper into the frightened ear of a child that I am right here
with you through it all. Through
trusting God we come to know peace - even though there are real things to fear,
they need not paralyze us, they need not have dominion over us; they need not
own us - because we are not alone in this… are we?
Fearsome things
ARE in our lives each and every day…but they don’t have the last word. Whether you are facing a giant, facing a
storm, or are in a place of suffering or brokenness or paralyzed by gripping
fear…the important thing is that however and wherever you are… you will not be
alone…right there in the midst of it all - God will be with you. Shalom!
Your faithful servant,
carmen
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