Day 135: Luke 5:10b

"Then Jesus said to Simon, Don't be afraid; from now on you will fish for people." ~Luke 5:10b, NIV

Jesus has just called some of the disciples to follow Him, and He had them go fishing early in the morning after a full night of fishing and catching nothing. Immediately they caught so many fish that two boats were nearly sinking from the catch! Simon then threw himself at Jesus' feet, proclaiming what Jesus already knew - he wasn't worthy.

Jesus knows everything about us, including our inadequacy - but He says the same thing to us that He told Simon Peter - don't be afraid! From now on, you will fish for people. Okay, so maybe that made a lot more sense to Simon than it does to us. After all, Simon had spent his whole life as a fisherman. Fishing was the one thing that made sense to him. Jesus was telling him to go do something he had no idea about, and he was afraid! But Jesus reassured him that what He wanted was perfectly tailored to Simon's skills - fishing. Instead of for fish, for men.

God's plan, no matter how terrifying, is perfectly tailored for you. Yes, it seems big, bad and scary because its new, but it's your plan. God made it so that you could make the best of it with the skills, passions and abilities that He gave you. Don't be afraid to follow God's path, because it truly is for the best, and it will be the most awesome part of your life ever!

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Day 134: Psalm 3:6-7

"I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked." ~Psalm 3:6-7, NIV

The psalmist here is directly going straight to the point - and he exemplifies a three step process to cope with his fear.

STEP 1

"I will not fear". The psalmist declares from the beginning that he's not going to be afraid. Even if he's surrounded by a physical army thousands strong all out to kill him, he's not going to be afraid. For us, maybe it's an army of negative and oppressive classmates that's putting us down. We can start with a simple declaration: "I'm not going to be afraid."

STEP 2

"Arise Lord! Deliver me, my God!" The psalmist knows that he can't really defeat an army by himself, so he appeals to the only source in the world that can: God. We can ask for God to rise up and save us from our enemies, or simply from our fears. In fact, we have to ask Him because we really can' t do anything substantial on our own except get overwhelmed.

STEP 3

"Strike all of my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked." Ask God very specifically to do something. If you just say "help me!" it's hard to measure whether or not God's answered your prayer, and then you might miss seeing His blessings over your life. Besides, if you're in trouble and ask for help, He might help you but only if you're specific - ask to pass that test instead of overcome your fears. (Actually, I don't know that. But I do know that Jesus said "You have not because you ask not.")

These steps are relatively simple, and can be done in any order. So long as you do them all, you should have everything you need to fight fear: God's word, God's spirit, God's promise, and God's command. Bring it on!

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Day 133: 1 Chronicles 19:13

"Be courageous! Let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. May the LORD’s will be done." ~1 Chronicles 19:13, NLT

This verse should sound familiar. That's because we just talked about this incident, in Samuel instead of Chronicles. David's army captain was about to take a city. He was working together with his brother, and they were going to conquer - if it was the Lord's will.

Yesterday we talked about how God commands us to be courageous. That means that if we let our fear overcome us, we're sinning. In loving our brothers and sisters in Christ, God tells us to "confess our sins to one another." If we know each other's weaknesses, we can support one another and be stronger. Joab, David's commander, might have known that his brother was scared, and Joab didn't want him to sin. So he reminded his brother to "be courageous!"

I don't know where you are or what you're facing, but remember to be courageous. You can still be scared, but don't let that fear control you - give it to God. Admit you can't do it on your own and ask for help. Fight bravely to do His will, and if you let Him control your fear, if you trust that He can pull you out, He'll use you to further His will.

And don't forget to help the people you know around you to live in accordance to God's will - courageously.

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Day 132: Joshua 1:6

"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them." ~Joshua 1:6, NIV

In this verse, God is directly telling Joshua what He expects - strength and courage, leadership. It is our duty to God to stand strong, to step out in courage, and to show others His love. God gave a promise to someone, sometime - for Joshua it was the Israelites, it was Abraham. He wants to use you to fulfill His promise, and if you won't obey His commands, He'll just find someone else to do the job.

Joshua obeyed, he chose to put his faith in God, and God used Him to bring His promises to fruition - and what a victory that was! God can bring victory through you too, the only question now is will you let Him? That is the question we must answer every day.

What's your verdict?

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Day 131: Psalm 46:1

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."~Psalm 46:1, NIV

Psalm 46 is one of the greatest psalms ever if you're scared. Seriously, I think every time we have a verse from it, I'm going to ask you to read the whole thing. This is the beginning - a statement of truth, a vote of confidence in who our God is. Or at least who He can be to you if you let Him.

Refuge. Strength. Help. Not just help, but ever-present help, a help that isn't going to break, disappear, or leave. If you need a booster, just remember who God is, and who you are to Him. Focus on that, don't let anything else get in your viewpoint. Choose to focus, choose to look at His side, if not the bright side.

Answer this: who is God? And if you can't find a satisfactory answer, ask Him!

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Day 130: Proverbs 31:21

"When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet." ~Proverbs 31:21, NIV

The last 21 verses of Proverbs are dedicated to the description of a "Wife of Noble Character" as described by a certain King Lemuel. Most of the proverbs are attributed to Solomon, as most of the psalms are attributed to David, while significant portions of both texts were written by a myriad of other sources. This is one such example as translated - Jewish tradition upholds that Lemuel was a poetic name for Solomon, and some people think he was a king of non-Israelite origin entirely - we may never know, but it's a pretty veritable fact that he wasn't a king of Israel simply because he isn't mentioned again in the Bible. But enough history, let's move on to how I interpret this verse in terms of fear.

Israel was a desert country. People didn't worry that much about snows, because it was hot. But in an Israeli context, it was a possible and highly undesirable occurrence that happened often enough to make it a valid fear of snows. But the "diligent" and "responsible" wife described throughout the half of the chapter has nothing to fear. In fact, not only does she have nothing to fear, but her entire household (which included her family AND the servants and their families) are clothed not only warmly enough, but in scarlet - a dye that showed prestige.

The thing about my interpretation is that it doesn't show a reliance on God. Basically it adds up to "if we work hard enough, we'll be safe". However, if we keep reading, we find out in v30 that this wife "fears the Lord". Her trust is in Him. She is God's blessing to her husband, and God blesses her so she can bless him.

God never said we were to be a lazy generation, and I think this verse shows that. God honors hard work, He doesn't provide it as the solution to problems in life, but more as a responsibility every person has - to work diligently. If we work responsibly for Him, He'll turn around and provide for our needs. As always, it probably won't be the way we want or expect it, but it will be for the best.

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Day 129: Psalm 20:7

"Some trust in chariots, others in horses, but we trust the Lord our God." ~Psalm 20:7, NCV

As imperfect human beings, we find security in a lot of interesting things. As the verse above states in ancient terminology, some trust in tanks to blow away opposition, others trust in speedy bikes to escape danger, but not God's children! Some trust in money to bribe away their enemies, others in prestige to intimidate their problems - but not us!

Let's face it, we try to synthesize security in a lot of ways, but there's only one thing that we can put our trust in that will never fail. That one thing is actually God. Everything else is superficial and won't actually help; they will bend and break under pressure. But God, no, He made the pressure, He can't break under it. He is stronger.

And you can be too, if He's your rock and the element you trust in.

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