InDeed – Articles Title: Moving From Fear to Faith “Keep your eyes closed and hold very still,” the x-ray technician instructed while the table I was laying on slid into the coffin-like MRI tube. Velcroed onto the examination table, I really had no choice but to do as I was told. On the outside, I was motionless. But on the inside, my mind was exploding. “What if I have a brain tumor? They only do MRIs if they suspect something is really serious. I must have something life-threatening.” Inside the claustrophobic tube, the ultraviolet x-ray lights slowly scanned my head millimeter by millimeter. My mind raced through a gamut of questions. “God what is going on? Why is this happening to me? What is the lump?” I knew I would have to get control of myself or the three-hour test might not be completed because this patient would go bezerk. I was full of insurmountable, overwhelming fear. Fear is an emotional response to an unknown future or uncomfortable situation. Fear can motivate us to faith. But fear can also cause us to doubt God and His provision, opening up the door for defense mechanisms such as self-pity, discouragement, anger and even depression. The Hebrew word for fear is pachad, meaning to tremble, to be in trepidation, to be on one’s guard or to have terror. Each of these definitions can relate to the daily circumstances of life, ultimately causing us to be fearful. When fear causes us to tremble emotionally, spiritually and even physically, it’s because we don’t understand what is happening or we don’t know what the future holds. We feel out of control. Our circumstances envelop us with the unknown. Fear is a natural response to danger. In Psalm 40:1, David cries out “Rescue me, O Lord…,” living for years in the fear of what could happen, what might happen, David’s future was uncertain as the victim of King Saul’s pursuit. What we must do in the midst of our fear is realize who is in control. We must move through our fears and into the confidence of God’s provision and protection that over-rides the feeling of fear. In Psalm 34:4 David shares how God provided for him, “I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” Vance Havner says “Most of us would live by faith if we knew that the rewards would be forthcoming inside of two weeks.” We don’t know what our future holds, but God does. We let God be God when by faith, we actually trust Him as the God of our future. We can walk into the uncertainties and the unknowns trusting He is already there, waiting for us. “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid,” Isaiah 12:2. Someone once said, “I do not know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.” In the MRI tube, I was told not to move my mouth, so singing or praying out loud during the ordeal was out of the question. My unsettled mind reached out, “Help me, Lord,” I shuttered silently as the test drug on. I remembered studying that morning Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” God’s truth and peace comforted me as I realized I had nothing to fear, not MRI claustrophobia, the mysterious tests, the uncertain diagnosis, the imminent treatment. Not even the unknown future.
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