From Fear to Peace: Three Truths to Fight Fear

I sat in my car as monsoon rains poured down on our little island in the East China Sea, while my husband was on the other side of the world, preaching at his mother’s funeral. 

A few years prior, ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) set in, ravaging her young and vibrant body. 

I realized that the memorial service was just underway. Anguish forced its way up my throat and out, in body-shaking sobs. 

Fear and anxiety accompanied my grief. My mother in law’s life was ended not just by ALS, but actually by FALS—Familial ALS. Her father was also taken by it nine years prior. When she was diagnosed, we had the crushing realization that my husband has a 50% chance of having FALS. And if he does, then so do our children.

Currently, there is no treatment, cure, or prevention for ALS. Victims are captive to their bodies, which deteriorate while their minds stay healthy. After three to five years, they die from being unable to breathe or swallow. 

I didn’t just weep for the loss of my sweet mother-in-law, or for the sadness that my husband bore without me. I wept over the “what-ifs”. And I begged the Lord to not let them be so. 

From Grief to Fear

Five years later, the anxiety that arrived the day of her death still threatens to take hold. I can easily spiral into a frenzy of “what-ifs”. 

Grasping for reassurance, I’ve read the scientific research and the stories of other FALS-affected families. I’ve put my kids and husband through diets and regimens in hopes of staving off what can feel inevitable. I’ve wrung my hands and rechecked statistics. We even briefly considered genetic testing. 

Yet deep down I know what Christians need to do when they are afraid. We need to rest in the Lord himself. More than prevention, more than science, more than our best efforts—in the face of what could be, we need a peace that surpasses understanding (Philippians 4:7). And we need a renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2). Both are ours by God’s Spirit if we only seek him and ask. 

The Word of God and the Spirit of God stand ready to equip and empower believers in the battle against fear. Both are living and active. The Holy Spirit resides in us, giving us the strength and grace to fight our fears afresh each day. He also reminds us of truth when we wander into fear (John 14:26), helping us to wield the Word of God, our offensive weapon (Ephesians 6:17). 

From Fear to Peace: Three Truths to Fight Fear

I want to share with you three biblical truths God’s Spirit arms me with when I’m tempted to be afraid.

1. My life is not my own.

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:20)

When I surrendered to the Lord as a freshman in college, these words changed my whole perspective. I awakened to the reality that my life, my body, and my future did not actually belong to me. The Lord created me, and ransomed me with his precious blood; therefore, I belong to him and live for him (1 Peter 1:18-19).

In the years since then, Paul’s words inspired by God’s Spirit have sunk deeper into my soul: “For by him all things were created…through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). My very existence is by God, through God, and for God. I am not untethered, required to conjure up my own meaning, purpose, and future. The Lord has already done that.

For the Lord is the one 

who made the world and everything in it… he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind…having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. (Acts 17:24-27)

God himself determined when and where I would live. The Lord set me here in this very family with these genes, so that I may seek him and perhaps feel my way toward him and find him (Acts 17:27). 

May the the things that cause us to fear lead us to seek the Lord and find him.

2. God will never leave me nor forsake me.

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

The fact that God promised this gives me tremendous courage. My kids and I have memorized Psalm 46. Together we rehearse that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (v.10, emphasis added). I know him who walks with me—that his character is good and trustworthy and sovereign.

And I know what he has already done for me in Christ: He was forsaken on my behalf, hung on a cross in my place, endured wrath from the Father for me. Because we know him and we trust these promises from him, we can face any future. 

Triumph in God’s promise to never leave or forsake you:

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

3. Even if…yet I will rejoice in the Lord.

Finally, I find rest from fear in the words of Habakkuk: 

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength… (Habakkuk 3:17-19)  

Even if this dreaded disease visits us again—even if I am forced to walk through this particular valley of the shadow of death, I will rejoice in the Lord. 

We can rejoice precisely because he is the God of our salvation, because he has already given himself over to us. More than the gifts he gives, Jesus, the Giver, is our gift. Nothing—not sickness, not suffering, not loss—can separate us from this gift. 

Behold, All Things Will Be Made New

When I think back on that sad day, when my grief returns and fear threatens to well up within me, God’s Spirit reminds me that my life is not my own, that God will never leave me nor forsake me, and that even if the worst comes, I will be able to take joy in the God of my salvation. 

He is also the God who says, “Behold I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5). God promises to those who have faith in Jesus Christ that, 

“He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

One day soon, and then forever, ALS will be no more. Whatever you may fear—school shootings, car accidents, separation from loved ones, the loss of a child, extended suffering at the end of life—it will not remain. Perfect love will cast it all out. You and I will be with our Lord, and scary diagnoses and suffering will be no more.

Written by Jen Oshman. This article originally appeared here, at Unlocking the Bible. Shared with permission.

Come to the Table

What is the advice you will probably receive more than any other as a mom of littles? Most likely one that says something like, “Find time for yourself. You need it.”

That sounds like a great advise so we say, “it is exactly what I need to hear today!” And so we start trying to find a way to put aside the people He has given us to love and serve, and all the good work He has ordained for us to do each day so that we can find that so much needed time to recharge.

But have you ever considered that this is a trap? Think about this, the more time you try to find for yourself, the more discontent you will grow in your heart. Nothing will ever be enough. The flesh will always want more, one more minute alone, one more date with friends, one more hour at the gym, one more glass of wine, one more “minute” on social media, one more pair of shoes. Left to ourselves, our flesh is a bottomless cistern.

The remedy when we feel weary, when we feel that parenting and marriage, and cleaning and cooking, and all the mundane tasks that we have been give to do are fruitless and draining, is not more time for ourselves, but more time with our God, our Maker and Redeemer.

In the Bible we read that Jesus departed often to the mount or to some place to be alone, but did He set apart these times in order to “find more time for Himself”? Of course not. He went not to find Himself but to meet with His Father and to pray for others.

“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” Mark 1:35 ESV

“But he withdrew himself in the deserts, and prayed.” Luke 15:16

“In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles.” Luke 6:12-13

This is the key to not grow weary of doing good, and to be ready to give and give and give more and more each day. This is what we need the most: to be with the Father.

We don’t need more “me” times, what we desperately need is more “God-time.”

And the good news is that God has given us His Word to speak to us. He has also given us His Son Jesus so that in Him and through Him we can come to God the Father every day at any time. The Father has also given us His Holy Spirit to open our eyes to see our sinful nature and repent, and see what a Savior we have in Jesus. The Holy Spirit also teaches us and encourages us and brings to our mind the Word we read (or hear preached at Church).

Sisters, what we need is Christ. All of Christ. And the only way to get all that is in Christ is abiding in His Word. There is no other way. No “me-time” can make you strong and renew your strength like the eagle’s. The verse of the day will never be enough to sustain you and make you joyful. The beautiful lettering verses on Instagram will not satisfy you. We need all of Christ and God has given us all of the Bible to equip us, to renew us, to give us strength and joy and peace. Only when we are in the Word can we find a renewed desire to die to ourselves so that we can love the people and the tasks God has given us to love and serve.

All of the Bible for all Christians is what we need the most. And no, it is not extra time that we need the most to make it happen, if we are breathing we have time to be in the Word.

I want to invite you to join us, thousands of Christian women around the world, who are done with the “find time for yourself” way of living and are ready to embrace the life that is rooted in all of Christ for all our life, a life rooted in the Scriptures.

We will be reading through the New Testament this summer (and then in the Academic year we will read both the Old and the New Testaments) starting on June 3. This is the best thing you can start doing. You will never regret being in the Word, being encouraged by it, being transformed by it.

Will you join us? My advise to you today is: Don’t keep trying to find time for yourself. Be in the Word. Your soul needs it.

Find all the information here and find us using the tag #SamePageSummer

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego

Written for Strength & Song by Becky Pliego.

I Couldn’t Possibly Wash My Face Enough Anyway

There are some popular beliefs floating around trying to convince us that we are enough… That we can do anything…That God wants us to have everything… We are strong enough for anything…

I would like to disagree.

While these statements aren’t inherently false, if we leave them as is, they become lies we speak over ourselves. I am not sure where this twisting words happened (probably with the serpent in the Garden of Eden), but someone took some truth and added or took away a little something to put the power back in our hands. I don’t know about you, but I know me down deep, and I know I am none of those glamorous things on my own. I know how quickly my faith turns to disbelief, and I’ve seen how easily I tank even after a seemingly solid landing. I hear my inner dialogue, and it’s not always pretty. Not even close.

So, in case you’re more like me and less like the, “I am woman, hear me roar without saying much,” variety, let me finish these incomplete sentences for you.

• We are enough because Jesus gave everything to cover our sins.

• We can do anything God desires of us as we seek him and obey his commands. In his strength.

• God wants us to have everything according to his will. According to the life he has planned for us: a life of abundance in him.

• We are strong enough because Christ lives in us.

We are getting it very wrong when we leave these sentences unfinished because we make them pretend instead of truths. If we are all of these things, why did Jesus have to die?

We can pretend our roar is strong enough to fight our battles, but being loud isn’t the same as being mighty. Remember when Job went to God and questioned everything God was allowing to happen in his life? God’s response was something like, “Job, you have a lot of questions about how I am running things, but now it’s my turn to ask you some questions. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? You think you are so full of knowledge and have some legs to stand on? Where were you when the stars were placed so perfectly in the sky? Can you make them sing? No? Too soon? Having regrets about this line of questioning?”

Maybe God isn’t as snarky as when I interpret him, but his point is very clear. We are made for his purposes, not the other way around. God has always been God and will always be God. That didn’t become truth when we decided to believe in him. We have nothing to bring him. And he wants us anyway. What a beautiful gift. It’s sort of like when we let a toddler help us put away dishes. We know it might take longer or be less efficient, but the joy that toddler gets from being in on the ordeal makes us happy too.

It’s time for us to stop stealing his thunder (which he also made) and twisting his words. It’s not about doing things in my own strength or fixing myself. It isn’t about washing my face because it’s my mind that needs renewing. And I can’t even do that on my own!

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Heal our land, Lord. And start with our words. Amen.

Written for Strength & Song by Shontell Brewer.

Word Problems - Three Reasons to Talk Less

When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.
—Proverbs 10:19 NASB

I definitely have word problems. You see, I’m full of them, words that is, ready to chatter and share those words plentifully with anyone in hearing distance. Always have been. As if speaking lots of words during the day wasn’t enough, I also talk in my sleep. Have since childhood. When I went to Pioneer Girl camp as a child, I was horrified to learn that the other girls in my cabin secretly stayed awake to be entertained by my nightly sleep talk. Evidently, despite my best efforts, I still have words left over at the end of the day. Yikes. What’s a person to do when words overflow in them? Let’s start with what they should not do.

Proverbs 10:19 warns us that “when there are many words, transgression is unavoidable” (NASB). That’s a sobering thought. When someone goes on and on and on … sin occurs. Here are some guidelines that might have been learned by *ahem* personal experience.

Do not be a conversation thief. When someone speaks on and on, they wrong others by not listening. They’ve stolen all the airtime. We do not need to fill up every quiet space with our own noise. Sometimes quieter folks take longer to formulate a thought. When we give them no space to share, we injure them. We also lose out on valuable opportunities to hear their thoughts and perspectives.

Do not use those words for tirades or lectures. Too many words often mean that people tune us out. Who wants to hear a ten-minute lecture on why they are wrong? Even if they are children and we are the parent. I spoke too long and too often to my children during their growing up years. I wish I had said what was most important and then been still, giving them time to digest my words. I suspect that much of the time my talking went in one ear and out the other. In the case of correction, less is more. (And that is definitely true in marriage as well.)

Do not speak carelessly. When we simply allow every crazy thought in our head to escape through our lips, we risk hurting people. Ephesians 4:29 cautions us: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (NIV). That’s the essential test and the filter through which we allow words to enter the atmosphere. Are my words helpful? Will they build others up according to their needs? Will they benefit those who are listening? Those are words worth sharing.

Oh, how hard it is to tame the tongue! Oh, but, when I choose to listen, when I speak words that are helpful and kind, when I know the time to bite my tongue and forbid it to speak … then I am using words correctly. And what to do with all those extra words? Blog, of course, and muse on them in your own mind!

Heavenly Father, please help my words to be thoughtful and kind. Remind me when I have said enough, and teach me to show restraint. I want my words to build others up and benefit them, Lord. And I want to hear others’ thoughts and musings as well. Help me to continue to grow in this area. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Originally written by Sharon Gamble of Sweet Selah Ministries. Used with permission.