Isaiah 35:3-4 Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.”

The Bible has many promises of this sort, but we are so slow to trust them. The more we focus on our own resources and abilities, the weaker we get. It is only when we look to God and allow Him to work through us that His power is manifested. When we get this fully through our heads and hearts, nothing will faze us, because our confidence will not be in ourselves but in Him. As this verse indicates, this applies not only to what we do but to what is done to us. We tend to get defensive over a wide variety of things, and in line with the thinking that the best defense is a good offense, we tend to attack others. That’s certainly a self-defeating spiral! Paul dealt with this issue in Romans 12:17-21, but he had plenty of OT Scriptures to draw from. That’s not to say we are to be doormats, inviting abuse, but it is to say that we should rest secure in the knowledge that God is our Defender. We can’t see around the next corner, and we don’t like that. Fearful of what might happen, we gear up emotionally to deal with it. Whether or not it ever actually happens, that’s a waste of emotional energy, draining us and demonstrating our lack of trust in God. The abundance of the riches of God’s glorious grace are for those who trust Him.

This is easy for me to write, but not so easy for me to walk out. I am attacked by anxieties of various sorts, just like everyone else. The difference is that I have experienced God’s faithfulness more times than I could count. That should make it easy for me to trust, but I still get anxious at times! As a pastor and counselor, it’s easy for me to see that the vast majority of anxieties of all sorts come from the desire to be in control. It is when we release control to God emotionally that we are set free from anxiety. Anxiety is crippling, but we hold onto it because of our desire to be in control. The right attitude is not, “Que sera sera,” but rather, “God is God and He is love, and that’s all I need to know.”

Father, this issue is so easy to see in others and so difficult to deal with in myself. Continue to grow me in releasing things to You, not in irresponsibility but in obedient trust. I seem to have the most trouble with issues that involve other people. Help me trust You to deal with them just as You deal with me, so that together we may “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1) Thank You. Hallelujah!