Lean In

Happy summer to you! As we in the USA shift gears into the time of year where the sun stays out longer and the calendar loosens up a little bit, I pray that a true spirit of rest can take root deeply in your heart. Our culture thrives on pushing us all to do more, be more, buy more, scroll more, worry more, complain more, whatever-it-is more, and this leads to lots of frantic feelings in too many hearts. One of the most prevalent and dangerous of those frantic feelings is fear--let's take a moment to think about this. 

​We had a doozy of a thunder storm a few nights ago, and I was awakened by a terrible sound of something breaking violently. I jumped out of bed to see what might have just crashed through the roof, only to realize I had heard the sound of our dog, who is actually a pretty strong and robust guy, busting out of his crate. He thinks that thunderstorms, especially one like this which had so much lightning, are the worst thing ever. So I spent much of the night holding a shaking, trembling, panting dog, who was convinced that the world was ending. No matter what I said to him, and no matter how tightly I held him, he just could not hear me reassuring him again and again that we were safe and that he was going to be OK. (the picture below is the day after...Maggie's crate on the left and Gus's reconstructed one on the right)

As He so often and graciously does, the Lord gently reminded me of the similarity of this situation with the many times I let fear get the best of me. I cannot get frustrated with my quaking, crate-busting dog when he forgets what I told him just last week during the thunderstorm since I forget pretty much every day that God has got me. We can all sing He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, but do we actually believe it? I think we believe it with our heads, and know deep down that it is true, He really does have the whole world in His hands therefore we can trust Him, but daily circumstances serve to make us forget and fall head first into the fear trap, again. When I let the claws of fear get their grip on my heart and mind, I cannot hear anything God is saying to me, and I can’t remember anything of His promises or peace. All I can hear is the deafening roar of fright furiously beating in my temples. 

​We live in a very fearful world. This has been true since the fall of mankind, but it is even worse now. As wonderful as it is to be so connected and up to the moment through media of all kinds, unfortunately, it seems that people have found a way to make a little money off the fact that most of us are shaking in our boots pretty much all the time. Many content creators prey on this knowledge with fear-based headlines and information, just for clicks. I read one writer who called the ubiquitous modern smart phone a Palantir In Every Pocket, and he is not wrong.*

Some of us do a better job of disguising or masking our fear than others, but it is such a common denominator of the human race. Old and young, rich and poor, male and female, every tribe and tongue is susceptible to fear. Think of all the things we are afraid of… loss, the unknown, not having enough, embarrassment, illness, irrelevance, aging, humiliation, abandonment, purposelessness, and a whole host of other big and small things, including the number one fear of death. We spent a lot of time and a lot of money trying to push fear down simply because it is always with us.

Many people spend a fortune just trying to sleep, because fear especially loves to express itself in myriad ways the minute you lay your head on the pillow. You didn’t know you could have as many thoughts about what could go wrong as when you were trying to fall asleep!

People spend a fortune trying to numb the effects of fear, through entertainment or drink or drugs or any number of other things that are not great when used as a crutch. 

So many conflicts arise out of fear. We are afraid that there is not enough for all of us to have some, so we’ve got to outdo each other all the time in every arena. I’ve got to protect me and mine, and too bad if that means you and yours get hurt in the process.

Fear is a terrible taskmaster.
Fear is a horrible husband.
Fear is a devastating mistress.

And the Bible is actually very clear about where this awful thing comes from… “For He has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7) Debilitating fear is NOT from God. But in this broken world, it’s something common to all of us. We all battle it whether we recognize it or not. How can we overcome fear? 

When I was a little girl, my parents took my sister and me to Walt Disney World during the summer of the bicentennial celebrations. I was four years old, and was a pretty tall little kid, and therefore was able to ride all the rides…Including Space Mountain. This might seem like a great thing, but my four year-old self did not think so at all. My mom and my very brave older sister rode together, which left my dad with scaredy-cat me. Disney is pretty good at creating anticipation in the hallways you snake through leading up to the ride. Beeping noises, flashing lights, planets whizzing by—rather than happy anticipation, it all served to create a dread fear in my heart and mind. What in the world was going to happen to me as we went hurtling through space? But I just took a deep breath and grabbed onto my dad's thumb, and leaned close into him with all my might, and that made everything better! If my big, strong dad was there with me on terrifying Space Mountain, nothing truly terrible could happen to me after all.

When you recognize that fear is the preferred tool of the enemy of your soul, you can understand why there are so many times in scripture where the Lord encourages us to lean into Him, and away from the fear than enemy exacerbates. The Bible bears witness to the love and concern in God's heart for you—lean into Jesus! 

Here are just a few thoughts from scripture to combat fear:

-He will never leave you or forsake you

-In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart for Jesus has overcome the world

-If God is for us, who can be against us

-His yoke is easy and His burden is light

-Do not fear, do not fear, do not fear (it says this so many times!)

-The Good Father is watching on the road, ready for you to run back to Him at anytime, day or night 

-He is the one who created the heavens and the earth and everything in them 

-Jesus is the one who overcame death, hell, and the grave 

Fear cannot stand in His presence. So when you are with Him, fear cannot touch you. 

Fear is lying to you, trying to convince you of things that are not true, especially that God has forsaken you. But God said again and again—He will never leave you or forsake you!

Is fear trying to put its talons in your heart and mind again? Lean into Jesus. 

He is faithful, and He is your provider.

Death did not stop Him, and it can’t touch you either—Jesus' resurrection power flows through your veins. 

God has tremendous concern and care for you, and is ordering your steps. 

Jesus covers you like a hen covers her little ones in her nest. 

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:2

No matter what your circumstances are saying to you, no matter how fierce the storm you are experiencing, no matter how furiously fear is surrounding you, Jesus  is with you in the boat, and you are safe with Him. Lean into Him with all of your strength! ​

One more thought—many years after my 1976 Disney experience, I was able to go to the west coast Disney park on a high school trip. They have Space Mountain in that park, too, and I happened to be on the ride when something occurred that made the operators stop the ride and turn on the lights. Guess what? Space Mountain, the thing that struck such soul-crushing fear into my little heart with all of that whirling and flying through the huge nothingness of outer space, is tiny! I couldn't believe how hilariously small the roller coaster actually was, all contained in a neat little room in the backlot of a theme park. Those Imagineers at Disney know a thing or two about capturing your mind and imagination, and, unfortunately, so does the lying enemy of your soul. 

​You ride through this life with Jesus, the Incarnate God who is the Giver of Life, the Creator of All Things, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! Lean into Him, and don't let fear lie to you today!

​* a Palantir was a magical seeing-stone in the Lord of the Rings stories—the holders of which could use to communicate and see past and future events, not realizing that what they saw and heard could be completely manipulated by the evil one. How prophetic Tolkien has proven to be!