Day 340: Psalm 118:8

"It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans." ~Psalm 118:8, NIV

Logic. It is amazing, and gives us much insight. The thing about logic is that it is utterly subjective. If you have something to think about, logic is always based on prior knowledge, and connecting it together the way that you have been taught to connect things.

Thinking outside of the box then, is really just shifting the way you view your logic.

However, in light of that, we're going to look above and see why that sentence makes logical sense. David is a man of God, and he trusts that this invisible being will love and protect him ALWAYS. Humans have been proven to be fallible in his life, but God has always come to his aid when he needed it.

Therefore, if he were given the choice to trust humans or God, he would look at the track record and see that humans had failed him infinitely, whereas God had never failed him. While some people may have taken some of the events of David's life and questioned God's existence and trust (betrayal at Saul's hand, death of Jonathan, betrayal at Absalom's hand), David believed and trusted in God's good will, therefore allowing him to see everything in God's light.

So how does your logic work?

Day 264: Isaiah 11:2

"The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—" ~Isaiah 11:2, NIV

A lot of times in old testament books, especially prophetic books, we can hear about the Messiah, the one to come and save Israel, the descendant of David that would rescue Israel. Isaiah 11 starts out talking about this Messiah - and we know he meant Jesus.

So when we read "the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him," we know it means that God's Spirit did rest on Him, and that thanks to His gift of the Holy Spirit, we can have that gift too. The Holy Spirit that fell on the day of pentecost and is now available to all who ask Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understand, of counsel and might, of the knowledge of the fear of the Lord - we can have that upon us too.

And that Spirit made Jesus who He was - fearless, God-serving, sinless, bold and absolutely certain of His message - we as Christ's followers and children of God are called to carry that same spirit about us. How else can we follow in His footsteps? How else can we experience the prince's peace?

How else if not by the same spirit, described in Isaiah that every Christian can have?

Day 176: 2 Corinthians 1:10

"And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us." ~2 Corinthians 1:10, NLT

Paul is writing to the Corinthians here about his missionary adventures, giving himself some pathos, and witnessing about God saving him and his partners time and time again. Even when Paul was in peril, because he trusted in God, God rescued him. Paul and his team placed their trust in God that He would rescue them, no matter the danger, so long as He had a mission for them.

God rescued Paul, and Paul put his trust in Him. Sometimes we have to take the first step and trust that God'll take care of it before He proves Himself, and that's okay, because He's God: He doesn't have anything to prove. He made the universe, for pete's sake! We're the ones who have to prove that we trust Him and are willing to follow Him. All it takes is a decision. Easier said than done, I know, but that's the simplest way to do it.

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Day 147: Psalm 71:5

"For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth." ~Psalm 71:5, NIV

Hope, hope, hope. There's been a lot of talk about this idea lately, and for good reason. Chew on that thought for a while, and look at how this psalmist proclaims who God has been for him.

There's this funny thing about God, and that is the fact that He never changes. As one who created, and hence is outside of time, the definition of time - change - doesn't apply to Him. If He has been one way and used to do great things, then you can be 100% sure that He still will be one way and do great things.

We know that today, Jesus is our hope. We can confidently come before Him and ask for help, ask for courage, trust that He's got a plan for us. He has been our hope, and always will be our hope. Maybe you used to hope in Him, but you changed your mind. In your youth, you knew Him. Something happened since then, maybe.

Look at your neighborhood 3 year old. S/he probably believes in a God. That's part of the reason why Jesus calls us to be childlike, confident in the good God we were told about. We don't have to understand why bad things happen, we just have to know that God isn't going to abandon us, and that He will take care of us. He's our father, and parents teach their children the way they should go through discipline, letting them make their own mistakes, and always accepting them when they run back.

Until the day you die, God is that father, with outstretched arms, waiting for you to trust Him with your fears.

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Day 144: Hebrews 6:18

"So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us." ~Hebrews 6:18, NLT

We've been reading a lot of Paul's words lately, but this one's from James. (At least in my Bible it's attributed to him...) Now, in Hebrews 6, James is discussing God's promises and how He fulfills them. As an example, he's used the promises God made to Abraham. A promise, and an oath, to be precise. But the point of that explanation is to validate God's word as absolutely true, and His promises as absolutely valid because "it is impossible for God to lie."

This argument leads up to the idea that we can know for certain that the "hope that lies before us" (who is Jesus, and the resurrection from the dead) is a promise that will be fulfilled, an oath impossible to break. Thus when we find refuge in God, we can be 100% sure that our hope is true. This hope dictates a reason to never be afraid again - with Jesus, we are safe in God's arms, safe from the nonsense of life and confident in the fact that God loves us and wants to make us the very best versions of us that we can be.

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Day 99: 1 Timothy 4:10

"This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers." ~1 Timothy 4:10, NLT

I don't know about you, but I don't struggle through my fears just for the sake of overcoming them. Honestly, I could live a perfectly comfortable life without ever challenging my fears. And it would be so much easier to go through life that way, just chilling in the flow of "whatever". It would be easier to stop trying to please God. It would be easier to just do whatever I wanted. It would be easier to give in to everyone who tried to beat me down. But what kind of a life is that?

It's not the one I want to live, and neither did Timothy.

I traded in that easy lifestyle for the hope of a living God. I trust that He saves all people, and particularly us believers who have chosen to accept His rescue. And I will continue to work and to struggle for Him - I don't want to cut corners on my friendship with Him. And as Paul wrote to Timothy in verse 6, I want to be a "worthy servant of Christ Jesus".

Allow me to be a Paul encouraging you, Timothy: the hard work pays off, and the struggle is worth it. Fight your doubts, fight the Devil, fight the good fight and bring glory to God, get to know Him better and put your trust in Him and His goodness.

PS: Happy Easter, the best reason to never be afraid again!

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Day 87: Psalm 111:10

"Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!" ~Psalm 111:10, NLT

This verse connects very well to yesterday's verse. Fear of the Lord - respect and an understanding of who He is - is the foundation of the wisdom that gives peace and no fear of harm. Obeying God's commandments results in growth of this peace-giving confidence-inspiring wisdom. And here we even have one such command: praise Him forever!

Praise, lift your eyes past your problems, grow in wisdom which will give you peace to handle your fears, and grow in friendship with God - the most essential thing in life anyways.

Day 86: Proverbs 1:33

"But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm." ~Proverbs 1:33, NLT

It bears saying that in this section of Proverbs chapter 1, Wisdom is speaking through the king. Wisdom who was with God as He made the Heavens and the Earth. Wisdom that God gives as a gift. Essentially, one could say that wisdom is another aspect of who God is. (Although that's not doctrinally correct, as far as I know...)

But pulling on the string that wisdom is a gift from God, we're going to say that the "me" in the verse above is God. So all who listen to God will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm. I will emphasize yet again that this peace doesn't mean that everything's going to go right for you. Serving and listening to God doesn't mean that you're never going to fail, it doesn't mean that people won't be able to take advantage of you and it doesn't mean that you should walk alone through a dark alley at night. God's peace - His confidence - will be with you, and you won't need to fear harm. It doesn't mean you intentionally walk into dark alleys. Your brain (which God made for you!) should tell you that's a bad idea.

One thing we can remember is to listen to God, moment by moment. We might be surprised at the things He's longing to tell us, if we stopped for long enough to listen, to read His word and apply it to our life.

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Day 79: Proverbs 28:1

"The wicked are edgy with guilt, ready to run off even when no one's after them; Honest people are relaxed and confident, bold as lions." ~Proverbs 28:1, MSG

Honest people. Also known in other Bible versions as "righteous" people. They are marked by a relaxed, confident manner, as opposed to wicked people who are ready to run off at even the slightest provocation.

See, in today's verse I see something I desire. I desire to be the type of person who walks around as bold as a lion. We've already had the discussion about lions in Daniel, so remind yourself what a lion is and how majestic they are. Now remember that's who you can be - if you want to. If you live with God, if you trust in His promises, YOU can be a lion! Relaxed and confident in who God is and how much He loves you, you can stand up to any and everything.

And that's exactly what God calls us to do.

Even when we fail sometimes, even when other people or other things tell us otherwise, we can choose to walk around with confidence and faith in a God who can take us beyond our best. It really comes down to whether or not you believe what God says about you. And oh the things He says! Oh how good He is!

Go through the Psalms - how about starting with Psalm 23, or Psalm 145? Find your own favorites. Read them. Believe them. Talk to God about them. Ask Him to help you, and start walking around in the confidence of His love. It's the most powerful thing you've ever seen.

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