Trade In Your Fears For Peace

“God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah”

Psalm 46:1-3

Since the Fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden there have been moments in human history where all hope seemed lost. Nothing ever stays the same. We live in a world of constant change and instability. Life is fragile at best and more often than we’d like to admit, people are scared. Since the news of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) became known and began to spread around the world in just weeks, becoming a world wide pandemic its brought with it pandemonium. What do we do, how should we respond?

It was Pastor Chuck Smith who admonished the leadership within the Calvary Chapel movement more than once throughout the years, “Never Trade What You Don’t Know For What You Do Know”. That thought has never been more important than now, as we seek to navigate in the dark how to deal with COVID-19 (Coronavirus) as the news reports change by the hour not by the day. I can’t even imagine how to address the myriad of questions people have but I do know that it’s important in times like these that we trust God more than ever and to take God at His Word.

Philippians 4:6 has probably been quoted millions of times since the news of the Coronavirus first broke with the hope of helping the church to not trade what we do know for what we don’t know. The apostle Paul wrote, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”. The good news is, it doesn’t end there. The real blessing, the needed comfort comes in the next verse, in verse 7 which says, “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

So the invitation today, my friends is, “trade what you don’t know for what you do know”. Bring all your worries, all the tension and anxiety, all the questions, the doubts and the fears and bring them to Jesus today. Lay them at His feet in prayer and leave them there. Pray yourself empty today, pour out your heart until the very last drop and allow God to fill you with His peace that is far better than understanding all the woes the world faces today. The point is, even if we understood everything there is to know about the Coronavirus that wouldn’t bring the world peace, it would merely give us knowledge. What we need more than even knowledge is peace, God’s peace. The peace that comes in knowing that God is in control and everything that is going on today is going according to God’s plan.

Let me encourage you today, loved one. Let go and let God. Take all your fears and worries to God in prayer today. Talk to God about all the uncertainties in your life and then listen to Him. Pick up your bible and let the voice of God comfort you. Let God lead and guide you in making the important decisions you are faced with each day. Don’t rely on the news channels exclusively for information on how to deal with your life. Turn to God and look to Jesus to perfect your faith that comes from hearing and trusting Him no matter what remembering, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).  

 
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

I LOVE YOU!

Michael Osthimer

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