Yesterday I wrote about Jonah and how fear influenced Jonah’s actions. I wrote of how Jonah claimed to profess that he worshiped God and was a prophet of God, yet his behavior showed exactly the opposite. As always God made sure that whatever I wrote, I had the opportunity to put into practice in my own life. Last night a phone call sent me spiraling once more towards fear. Like Jonah, I felt fear trying to grab hold of me and dictate my actions.
But I had an asset Jonah didn’t have – my husband, who takes his God-given role as spiritual head of the family seriously. Together we sat down with God to work through the situation. My husband started by outlining the promises of God, in particular that we ‘will go out with joy and be led forth with peace,’ Isaiah 55:12. He reviewed how God had led us in the sale of this house and the finding of another place on the South Coast which we love. We reminded ourselves of the verses we’ve been memorizing. These were 2 Thessalonians 3:3 and Isaiah 41:10. As we went over those words, the reality of them hit us and the fear started to abate.
We then turned to the Bible study for that evening and smiled as we saw how God knew long before we did, the point we would be at and the reassurance we would need. All of the stories in Matthew 9:18-38 focused on what transpired when people had faith and believed Jesus could do the impossible. There was the synagogue ruler – Jairus, the woman with the issue of blood, the blind men and the one who was demon possessed. In each case Jesus undertook and resolved their dilemma.
As we read, we were encouraged to believe that this phone call and subsequent situation provided just one more opportunity to put our faith into action. We were reminded that if we trust in Him, He will also fulfill His word to us. So we prayed and praised Him for the way He would deliver us. We praised Him for the way he knew our needs and us so well, that He had already planned the daily reading so that our focus would be where it belonged – not on the circumstances or the phone call that had filled us with fear and thoughts of what if, but on God’s promises to us and the unchangeable and faithful character of God.
Earlier that day I had been reading in Romans 4:16-21 about Abraham and his faith despite the circumstances. How could Abraham have such faith? Because he trusted in the character of God. We resolved that we would too. Time again to put that faith into action and live out our Christian life.
Bible references from The New American Standard Version
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