Fear and Faith

Source

Recently, schools were closed due to a "credible threat" that would have impacted a significant number of schools and students.
We are living in dangerous times.
Everyone was saying, "better safe than sorry," but many of the responses seem to reflect the repercussions of the times we are living in.
Fear cannot be the primary motivator of our thoughts because it makes us fearful.  Living in fear is draining, exhaustive, and crippling. Faith produces the opposite effects - rejuvenation, revitalization, and growth. I would like to suggest we live by faith instead.

Fear is the opposite of faith. If we only trust in the things that we can see in this world we will be fearful. On a regular basis, we are dealing with terrorism - domestic and international, economic downturns, natural disasters, health scares, unemployment. We are consumed by what the future will look like for our children. There is always something to worry about! However, the Bible provides excellent comfort on why we need not live in fear.

A Chapter A Day - Proverbs 13

Proverbs 13 continues with contrasting righteous attributes and foolish attributes. However there are a couple of verses that don’t necessarily fit this model and I’d like to look at them. BTW, if you are taking the running analogy to heart, you should be in the zone now. Plan to stay in the zone for a while.

Observations and Highlights

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life (v12).
Hope deferred. To hope is to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence; to believe desire or trust. To defer means to put off to a future time. Hope deferred is to have an expectation that is delayed; an expectation that doesn't occur in an anticipated timeframe, as a result, becoming less hopeful, stressed, or anxious. This delay pains the mind and affects the spirit. However, we have to know that what we’re hoping for is from the Lord. It does no good to hope you win the lottery if the Lord has not directed you in that way; that may just be wishful thinking.
Why be any of those things when you can give it over and just wait. Waiting seems SO HARD but hold on to the fact that a longing fulfilled brings life. God understands what we go through when we hope, that's why He gives us someone to place our hope in.

He that walks with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed (v 20).
Choose your friends wisely as they can negatively or positively influence you. Sometimes, it's much easier for friends to have a negative influence on you than the other way around which is why we are also warned that  bad company corrupts good character. The pull your companions may have on you is similar to a gravitational pull. The more wise friends you have the greater the likelihood that you will be positively impacted by them. The converse is also true. As with everything, it’s a process but once you recognize that you may be a companion of fools, sever the chains and go in a different direction.

Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them (v 24).
If you’re a parent, you MUST discipline your children as it is one of the best ways to demonstrate love. In my family, we were beaten (sounds horrid), but we weren’t abused. That correction served its purpose because it kept us on the straight and narrow. As a child, I didn't necessarily appreciate this correction, and as an adult and a parent, I now know it could not have been easy for my parents. But the discipline occurred because the alternative was not pleasing: bad behaviour left unchecked. Find a happy medium that works for you, but correct your child lovingly when necessary. The more you do it in their formative years – the less you’ll have to do it as they're older.

Read on.

Notes From My Daughter - Don't Worry

My daughter

Occasional notes from my 20 year old daughter. I never know what to expect when she writes, but it's usually a pleasant surprise.  Read on!

A quick note - As I was jogging early this morning, it occurred to me that I had not shared this poem that was written late last year. A friend of mine asked me yesterday to write something about acceptance - i.e. accepting what we cannot change. Having read this poem today, I think it fits the bill. God is amazing!

This culture I have participated in has far too long consumed my precious soul;

This lifestyle I think I know so well has confidently assured me that my slow suicide was a short cut to deceitful happiness;

"Acceptance is the path to understanding," they say. "Strive to be accepted."

Well, if I read the whole dictionary I would miss the words. 

The sun screams as it's rays touch a new morning.

Creation dies every day, yet it's joy is in being created.

I don't know that the butterfly is accepted, but I know it's wings form geometrical patterns of Hallelujahs and structural Amen's actively soaring in the glorious details we miss when we worry.

Don't worry my dear, wait.

Wait without the weight of selfish anxiety.

Behold the active beauty in front of you that takes away your God-given breath as you celebrate your giving God.

Uphold his principles which are accepted into your bloodstream like nutrients.

Wait to be filled, feasting on the joy before you.

Wait, but do not worry.

It's in His hands, and in Him you are home.

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Romans 8:6 NLT

O that you had listened to my commandments! then had your peace been as a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea: Isaiah 48:18 NLT

Money, Money, Money!

One should never say "never", but typically I never worry about money. I've been frugal and a saver most of my life; I know how to get a good bargain; some would call me cheap. I have four children so I've learned how to stretch a dollar and look good doing it. I believe in the word "SALE". When I work, I'm not one of those folks stressing about, 'When do we get paid?" Some times I forget when pay day is. Because of this attitude, I've been asked if I'm rich. I know money is the currency of life and we need it to get things done, but I never ranked it higher than other things in my life. While I understand the importance of money and having it, money does not consume me. I don't think I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about money (perhaps, I'm wrong).

So it is quite surprising to me, that within the last couple of months I'm really stressed out about money - particularly:

• Do I have enough?
• Can I afford this item?
• Why does it feel as if everything costs? Is nothing free anymore?

This stress can drive me crazy. Recently my laptop needed fixing and I took it in for repair. I was quite happy that it was under warranty, so I thought the repair would cost nothing. As it turns out, they're trying to blame me for the problems, citing physical damage and now all of a sudden the repair is estimated at $500.00 and counting. I've decided that I'm not repairing the laptop, but only after much angst about the cost, and questioning if these folks are for real. But my main concern in all of this, what guided my conversations with service techs - was the cost, and not the necessity of the laptop.

This mindset makes me angry and I don't like it. I guess this is why the Bible says be anxious for nothing; because I realized the more anxious I became the more unproductive my feelings - anger, restlessness, helplessness and finally lashing out at those around me.

Writing this and praying about my recent anxiety around money really started to give me clarity and peace.
My God promises to provide; He tells me not to worry; He takes care of the birds and the lilies - how much more me?

Do you worry about money?

I would suggest turning this area over to the Lord. In praying, may you find the wisdom to learn how to manage your resources.