Are you Living in worry and fear? STOP!!!!!

I recently talked to a friend of mine from a long time ago and one of the things he said to me inspired this post.  We were talking about how our lives had changed and how we were older now and had become fathers.  He then told me he had a son that was 16 and a senior in high school. His next statement really stood out in my mind, he said "my son is girl crazy and i'm scared i'm going to be a grandparent soon". Surprisingly enough, I wasn't as bothered about the concerns we all have about the safety and welfare of our children as much as I was bothered by the term "scared".

I began to ponder the actual magnitude of his statement and what it meant to his life and how it reflects the state of so many of our mindsets.  We are often scared and worried about things we should not be, as a matter of fact we shouldn't be scared or worried about anything according to the Word of God.  I know this is, as the disciples would say, "a hard saying" or hard to swallow, but its the Word of God so its right and true.

Here are two reasons not to live in fear and worry:

1. God said not to.

• In Phil 4:6 God instructed us to not worry but instead pray about everything and thank him in advance for the answers. (Phil 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God NKJV)
• In 2 Tim 1:7 We are told that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind  ( 2 Tim 1:7   For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. NKJV) 

When we look at these two scriptures together it is clear that God doesn't want us to cower in fear and worry over our circumstances but instead to seek him for answers and to stand boldly against those things that would cause the average person to worry and fear.

2. Fear and worry often times bring the exact things we are afraid of or worried about into our lives.

• When we read the story of Job and we see all the things he went through and we see that finally he actually confesses that the things he feared have happened to him and what he dreaded most has now come upon him. (Job 3:25  For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me,
  And what I dreaded has happened to me NKJV)

We see here that fear and worry often times magnify the problems or the issues we are facing when we should instead be magnifying God as the word instructed us to (Psalms 34:3). When you magnify something you make it or see it as bigger.  We should see God and his word as bigger or greater than anything we have to fear or worry about.  When we choose the other route we begin to see our issues or problems as so heavy and overwhelming that we allow them to overtake us or we don't even do the things necessary to solve them because we end up in a state of hopelessness.

As opposed to worrying and living in fear and dread, we should apply the word of God to our lives and pray and trust him.  All of our problems will not be solved by miraculously going away but most times this stance of prayer over worry allows God to give us the wisdom to solve the problem and overcome the issues we face in life.  Prayer also helps us to handle these situations better while we are in the middle of them.

Love and God Bless