Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27 NIV
As a young mother, I encountered my biggest yet challenge to overcome fear. My circle of priority concern had widened considerably, and those dearly loved people occupied my thoughts so much. My mother had breast cancer, my father had a heart attack, my sister had health issues, my brothers and their family/work events were big in my thoughts as well. My husband and I were pastoring together, our lives were so beautiful, and in my active hours I loved every minute of everything, and I was sure I was trusting God.
But at nighttime, too often I couldn’t sleep. My thoughts snowballed out of control. What if Charlie died? How could I do this without him? What if one of the children died? I would even get up from bed and go check to see if they were still breathing. Sometimes I would lie still for a minute waiting to hear a little breathy snore, evidence that Charlie was still breathing beside me. When the people in my house were alive and apparently well, I would devolve into fears for my siblings and their families, my parents and their health, our church and whatever issue we were facing at the time.
One day I got it. It was a quiet epiphany. The things that kept me awake were the things that I was taking out of God’s hands. For some mixture of foolish reasons, I was trying to gain control over situations I had neither the wisdom nor the resources to manage. Instead of trusting my faithful God, I was trying to solve problems myself – problems mostly that lived only in my fear and imagination. I learned day by day to let go of those issues and trust them to Jesus. Very few of my fears ever materialized, and the ones that did, God handled for me as I trusted Him. He made me stronger than I could have imagined. The peace of Jesus became my daily reality, replacing my fears.
Our fears matter. Our fears expose our lack of peace, the areas where we are relying on our own wisdom and efforts. Our troubled hearts betray that the peace of Jesus’ presence is less real to us than the world He has already overcome. But the truth is – His peace is always available to us. We are always inadequate for the situation. He is always more than enough and pours His peace and power into us. Your greatest fear is pointing you to your best opportunity to trust the One who can give you victory and peace in and through everything. The pathway to your greatest potential, purpose, and peace is straight through your fear.
- Jesus, help me see that I have a choice – faith or fear. With faith comes peace and power. My trust in You will propel me forward. I will choose well each moment.