Trusting God When You Are Scared

How to Have Faith When You Are Scared

Lately it seems that everywhere I look people are expressing their fear of what is going on in the world. Understandably so. Conversations are filled with speculation, panic and anxiety. There is a real fight going on in the lives of believers to look away from the waves and keep our eyes on the author and finisher of our faith. Below I am going to share three reasons that we can trust God in the midst of uncertainty.

 1.) God created the entire world and therefore, he is far bigger than our circumstances.

This morning my kiddos and I were reading a book that led us to Genesis Chapter One. We discussed all the cool things God has made like the sky, cute bunny rabbits, funny dogs, snowflakes, fruit trees and flowers. Creation testifies of God’s goodness and his desire to bless us with good things to enjoy.

God did not create a dark and desolate world void of life. He’s the God who dotted fields with sunflowers, spread stars across an indigo sky, and filled the ocean with coral reefs and all sorts of incredible creatures. Have you ever sat on the beach with your toes in the sand? Children with plastic shovels and pails dig around to unearth hidden treasure. They build castles along the coast. God’s goodness laps onto the shore with every wave that foams.

 On the beach, looking out at the vast ocean, we get a glimpse of how big the God of the universe is and how small we are, but amid the busyness of our daily lives, it is easy to forget. We start to analyze all the frightening details of what we see around us, we submerge our minds in what-ifs, and we make plans for how to save ourselves. Ultimately our lives are in the hands of the Lord.

We can trust God because he is our creator and the creator of many good things. 

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.

Psalm 107:28-32

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:9

2.) God has always had a plan and therefore, we can count on him.

Can you imagine being among Moses and the Israelites when they fled from Pharaoh and his army only to come up against the Red sea? Talk about scary and uncertain times! There was literally no way out. And yet, we have a God who is in the business of creating pathways where there appears to be impossibilities.

Take a look at God’s faithful track record in your own life. If you are alive and well enough to read these words, God still has a purpose for you. If you know him, his promise to work out all things for good, even these scary times, applies to you. His promises of peace and abundance can be cashed in now when we choose to abide in him, but that is a daily choice we have to make, to revert our eyes to him and anchor ourselves in his word. If you do not yet know Jesus personally, his free offer of grace is extended to you. He knocks at your door, desiring to come in and dine with you. Do not delay in answering. Today is the day of salvation. 

We can trust God because he has always had a plan and his plans ultimately result in our good and his glory. 

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Proverbs 19:21

 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Romans 11:36

3.) God gave us Jesus when he could have allowed us to pay the price for our own sin and therefore, he is gracious and worthy of our trust.

When Adam and Eve were given a choice in the garden of Eden, they chose to turn away from God. At that point, God could have just watched our demise from the comfort of his dwelling place, but that isn’t what he did. He gave us Jesus. Everybody gets to make the choice as to whether they will accept or reject God’s son. The fact that we even have that choice is a testament to God’s generosity. We have all sinned and violated his holy law time and again and yet, his heart is for us. His desire is to forgive and be in fellowship with us.

He makes eternal life available to all of us sinners who continually fall short. He offers a place to belong to all of us outcasts who never quite fit in earthside. He extends a fatherly hand to the broken and a breath of fresh air to the weary who are sick and tired of laboring for their own worth. He provides abundance to the poor and needy. He grants pardon to the ones that forsake their pride and the filthy rags of their own good works in exchange for a handout of grace. All that is required of us is to simply believe that Jesus paid for our sins on the cross and was raised again to life, to confess and follow Him as Lord.

In the midst of our fear, we can trust God because he provided Jesus as the way for us to know him and be saved.

But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Hebrews 7:24-25

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

John 1:9-13

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

Revelation 22:17