Do Not Be Anxious

by Rebecca Irwin

Last Sunday, my pastor spoke on fear. It is a very palatable frame of mind today, in "these times". Daily, we read it, watch it, hear it, see it, feel it. There are very real reasons to worry and fear today. I cannot encapsulate his entire sermon but I urge you to look for it, and listen to the whole message : http://www.gracelbmedia.org/

The text that was read was Matthew 6:25-34, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life..." My pastor shared that this command "Do not fear" or "Do not be anxious" was stated more often that "love one another". But, is Jesus, in essence, just telling us to "get over it?". Nay, he said! Consider this : when a child wakes from a nightmare in the dark of night and comes to his parent's bedside frightened, does a loving parent say "stop it!"? Of course not! They say "don't be afraid, I am right here, I will protect you." It is in this loving way Jesus points to His Father and says, "Don't be afraid, see how the Father cares for even the birds and flowers? He will surely take care of you!".

We also looked to the Psalms to see that in our humanness, we express our fears. See Psalm 3 (v1-3) "O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul,there is no salvation for him in God. Selah But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,my glory, and the lifter of my head...." As we speak our fears to God, he can correct our mindset.

At the end of this message, he showed a clip from the movie "Two Towers" based on J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Eowyn is a lady who wishes to go to battle :

Eowyn says "I do not fear either pain or death.

Aragorn replies "What do you fear, my lady?

Eowyn says "A cage. To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire.

Aragorn counters "You are a daughter of kings, I do not believe that will be your fate."

The point Pastor Lou made from this, rung in my mind all week. Our "cage" is self-protection. But living in the will of God is the safest place to be.

I urge you today, daughters of the King, take the risk to trust Him!

King of Kings, cause us to look to you rather than down at our swelling fears. Help us to feel your constant and faithful presence so we are not scared. Allow us to see your light when we feel we are being swallowed by the darkness. Empower us through your Spirit to break free from our cages of self-protection and experience the liberation of knowing we are in your will. Amen.