Fear No Fear

“But the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Mark 4:19, MEV). God loves us enough to guide us – and it doesn’t matter where we are. This world is right here in front of us. There is a lot of it. It is chaotic. And it likes to make a LOT of noise. It is easy to see it. To feel it. To be affected by it. We are housed in a physical body in a physical world with physical events surrounding us. We are going to notice what is going on to one degree or another. The question isn’t whether we see it. It is how we process it and how we let it influence what we think, do, and say. Jesus never told His disciples to ignore the world. None of the apostles ever told the believers to pretend nothing was going on – good or bad. But what was happening was never the focus. It was never what we were to hang on to. Jesus told the disciples on the eve before the worst day of their lives not to LET themselves be troubled (John 14:1). They had the choice to react with fear, anxiety, and depression. They had the choice to react in a completely different way. It isn’t a matter of wishing for the best. Of ‘manifesting’ a-okay-ishness. It is replacement. Jesus told them to choose not to be troubled by choosing to embrace the peace He was giving them (John 14:27). We don’t reject the things the world says is normal and live transformed lives by choosing to just be happy or telling ourselves not to be anxious. We don’t operate completely differently from the expectation of the medical community and the social groups on a whim. We are transformed when we choose to engage what God gives us instead of what the world gives us. To be whole instead of managing brokenness. It is not wishful thinking. It is not ‘manifesting’ desires. It is coming into agreement with what God says is possible and choosing to take it from Him. It is looking to Him as our Source. When the cares of this world kick up, what are we choosing to do? Are we plugging into one of the myriad ways to relax and unwind that the world provides? Or are we turning to God and embracing Him? Are we letting the feelings that come on us call the shots, or are we engaging the emotions God’s Fruit produce? Are we letting what is around us determine what we think, how we act, and what we say? Or are we letting God be our Source, talking to Him about it, reading the Word about it, and giving our troubles to Him to manage (1 Peter 5:7)? When we let the world be foremost in our thoughts, letting what is happening in it and what is coming on us call the shots, we are at risk of letting go of the Word. When we filter everything through Him, through the Word, we are making it easy to agree with His point of view. We are making it easy to let Him tell us what the solutions are. We are making it easy to rely on Him to provide. When God is front and centre in our lives, there is nothing the world can take from us. We won’t choke on the events that are happening – no matter how chaotic. We will breath easy because we are in the presence of the Lord and worshipping Him in peace. We won’t be blind to the world, but we won’t be controlled by what we see (John 17:15-16). The more we look to the Lord, the less we’re worried by the world.