Fears. We all experience it. Not everyone builds a monument to their fear, but when we do, it weakens us, becoming a symbol of our lack of trust in God. Only faith has the power to overcome fear. I would love to hear your thoughts!
2MefromHim Devotionals
When Fears and Faith Collide
He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark. Job 36:32 NIV
My fears have a monument in the form of an overstuffed notebook. Article after article about lighting facts, hoarded as if in knowing, I will be safer. When a bolt of lightning, traveling through a clear, blue sky killed my dad, my fear spiraled out of control. I pulled my kids off soccer fields, refused to use the electric appliances, or take a shower during a storm. Talking on the phone is forbidden.
As a child, my dad held me in his lap, explaining what a beautiful display lightning gives of the power of God. Lightning striking two of my parents’ homes erased any fascination he managed to encourage. Following his death, my fears and faith collided, and lightning became a terrible thing rather than a display of God’s power. Living on the side of a mountain at 7200 feet puts us in danger of lightning strikes to our home and forest fires. The beautiful view drew us, and we never considered the storms.
An in-depth study of scripture convinced me that only God controls the lightning, but I still cannot see its beauty. I control nothing beyond my own reactions, but God’s sovereignty rules over all. I can accept that God took my father to heaven via a lightning bolt, but I don’t take chances by being out in a storm.
I have heard it said that God’s man, at the center of God’s will, is immortal until God is finished with him. Love of God and the desire to serve wherever He leads makes me lean on His protection. Believing God is all-powerful can free me from concern for self. Stepping out of my comfort zone will grow and mature my faith. It isn’t wrong to take sensible precautions. It is wrong to cower in fear over something only God controls.
John says perfect love casts out fear, and I believe God loves me perfectly. Stormy times in life cause me to depend on God in new ways, and lightning storms should do the same. I must submit my fears to God and leave it there. Victory is only possible when I trust God completely, no matter my circumstances.
Fear weakens; faith strengthens. Just as the lightning comes from His fingers, so do the events of our lives. When I refuse to give in to fear, God can show me His power.
© Copyright Norma Gail Thurston Holtman, July 7, 2013 & August 17, 2017
About the author:
Norma Gail is the author of the contemporary Christian romance, Land of My Dreams, winner of the 2016 Bookvana Religious Fiction Award. A women’s Bible study leader for over 21 years, her devotionals and poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, and in “The Secret Place.” She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, Historical Writers of America, and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. Norma is a former RN who lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 41 years. They have two adult children.
Connect with Norma:
Website: www.normagail.org
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Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Land-My-Dreams-Norma-Gail/dp/1941103170
I do indeed understand about fear and faith colliding! Fear is such a formidable enemy! I cling to the verse that says God “did not create in us a spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and of a sound mind”. Easy to say, harder to accept. But God is also understanding! I am glad that he gave us brains to reason and meditate on His word and promises.