Fighting Fear With Trust

So, I've been a little lazy, (more like a lot) at this blog thing, and this is super late. Anyway, last summer, I had a new experience and led a topical Bible study with my friends. I thought it would be cool if I could share some of the things we talked about with you! So this week, I want to talk about how we can fight fear.

First off, fear can rob us of our joy.
All of us have experienced fear in one form or another. For example, this past winter I had the opportunity to go skiing for the first time. I was terrified to fly down the snowy slopes, but I decided to try it anyway. I had an amazing time and found it to be a new passion. If I would have let fear get in the way, I would have been robbed of a great joy. A silly example, I know, but something to always keep in mind. Don't let fear rob you of joy in life.

Now to start off the rest of this post, I would like to give you the literal definition of fear from the dictionary.
FEAR: "a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid."
Notice the phrase I underlined in this definition. Fear can be real, or it can be imagined. For this new aspect, I have another definition.
False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

Now think back to when you where a little child, or maybe a child you know. Think about this child being afraid of something real, (a thunderstorm), and something imagined, (a monster under the bed). When a child is afraid, the first thing they think of is rescue, and they immediately run to their parents. In the same way, when we are afraid, we can run to our Heavenly Father and find refuge.

                                 

I feel like this is a great visual example of when we run to God and find refuge, "under His wings." So how do we know that God is trustworthy? If we look in the Bible, we see how God has come through on His promises. For example, God promised to make Abraham into a great nation, and He did. Later, He brought the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land (even though they were a stubborn, seemingly-forgetful and ungrateful people!). God also promised that He would reconcile the world, which He did through Jesus Christ. There are MANY other examples from the Bible that would not fit into one blog post, and I encourage you to look them up. ;)
As we can see, when we run to our trustworthy, Heavenly Father, He will protect us as promised in His Word:
Psalm 34:4
I sought the LORD, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
James 4:8a
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Isn't it great to be able to go to the Bible and read true stories of how God was faithful to men and women? I hope the next time you face fear, you will remember there is a loving God who will take you into His arms and provide refuge. Run to God with anything! He will listen. May you have a blessed week! Feel free to add personal stories or any other Bible examples in the comments!
-Marissa :)