How many times has the Lord saved my bacon?  Grabbed me by the hand just as I’m heading over some cliff’s edge?  Saved by heaven’s bell.  Yet, I rarely notice.  Clueless.  Things happen.  Messes work themselves out.  Lucky break.  Good karma.  Really?  Not!

Wish I could see God at work.  Wouldn’t I feel much better?  Not so fearful.  There’s that word.  Fear.  My father suffered with too many worries for his own good.  Kept him hemmed in, fulfilling few of his supposed dreams.  Some of his claustrophobic fears that I witness, I inherit.

Fear.  Shadows from the past, biting us in the here and now.  Water, under the bridge, flooding to the surface.  Its upstream sins now rush downstream, finding us out.  How about all those risks life throws at us?  We’re afraid to leave home, even though most accidents occur under its roof.  Thanks for the reminder!  Now I’m mired in a blue funk, taken down a peg or two.

What about the future?  Oy veh!  Not then.  Money problems down the road a piece.  Medical can of peas around the corner.  Kids imploding.  Marriages exploding.  Pastors running amok.  Churches splitting and dying.  Politics wrenching with horrendous hostility and division.  The future?  What’s to fear?  Come to think of it– everything including the kitchen sink.  And you know what plumbers charge!  Woe is me.

Ready for some good news?  Deuteronomy 1:29-31–‘…Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them.  The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert.  There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.’

Stop for a second.  Put on your thinking cap.  Look back.  Brainstorm about the times that God has helped you.  Count those many blessings.  Think of more.  Smell the wood burning?  Throw on another log.  Stir up the embers.

This week, when fears rear their ugly heads, I’m going to guard myself with God’s good promises, praising Him as much as I can.  At least I’ll try, as I’m far from perfect.  But He knows.  He understands.  Like a good father carrying us.

Join me?  Nothing to fear…

Thank you, Lord, for all your goodness promised to us in Jesus.  Amen.