Trusting God Conquers Fear

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. (Psalm 56:3 NIV)

When I was in 7^th grade, I was terrified of an 8^th grader I will call Kim. One day Kim asked my name and I told her. She must have forgotten so she asked another day. When she asked a third time, I turned and walked away.

Each morning we sat in the gym bleachers before school started…7^th graders on one side and 8^th graders on the other. I’ll never forget the morning after not telling Kim my name. Spotting me across the gym, Kim shouted to one of my friends to get my attention. Pointing her finger, she yelled “I’m going to beat you up!”.

Over thirty years later, I still feel the sheer terror that flooded my heart. My nickname growing up was “Bones” and Kim’s could have been “Bruiser”. From that day forward, I mastered avoiding Kim in the halls and not looking her direction in the gym.

My heart raced every time I saw Kim regardless if she saw me. Since I never sought God for help, my fears only ceased when Kim was no where to be found.

As a military leader, David led conquests of other nations. He overpowered and struck fear in their hearts. Then the tables turned and David was pursued. While on the run from King Saul, the Philistines seized David and he was in the hands of King Achish (1 Samuel 21:10-15). He opened the psalm crying out to God for mercy because his enemies pursued him all day long intent to take his life (Psalm 56:1-2). 

Twice Saul hurled a spear at David to try to take his life.  Can you imagine the fear and anxiety David felt knowing that if someone saw him it would get back to Saul?

David felt fear even though he was a successful warrior anointed by God to be king. When we are facing spiritual, physical, mental, or financial attacks, we can easily feel fear rising. Just like my heart raced at the sight of Kim, my heart raced during other trials.

But let me be very clear…being afraid isn’t a sign of weak faith or no faith. We just need to know what to do when fear rises.

When I fail to rely on God, I unknowingly leave myself vulnerable to fear.

David confessed to God the enemies plots against him and his fear. David modeled the proper response to threats and fears.

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. (Psalm 56:3)

We can say we trust God when the stakes are low. But how do we really live it out when the situation with our diagnosis, finances, job, marriage, or relationships hasn’t changed?

In God, whose word I praise – in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? (Psalm 56:4)

The key to trust is knowing God’s word. When we spend time in God’s word, we are spending time with God himself. We learn the true character of God through his word. It’s not cliches or sayings that we cling to, but God’s very promises. We read of his faithfulness in David’s life and can experience the same faithfulness in our own lives.

The more we read…the more we experience…the more we believe…the more we like David can say, “In God, whose word I praise – in God I trust and am not afraid.”

And with the true picture of the God, we learn to properly assess what our enemies can really do. Nothing! Sickness can attack our bodies but not our spirit. Loss of a job can attack our finances but not our spirit. Conflict can change our relationship with people but not our spirit.

David’s fears ceased before the situation changed just by being intentional to believe God. Fear didn’t have a chance to overwhelm David.

His confession didn’t stop the pursuit of his enemies but it did stop his fear.

David didn’t just know God’s word…he believed and praised God’s word.

God has given us the psalms to allow us to see how in our humanity we can live with both fear and trust.

We don’t need to wait for the threat to leave for fear to leave. We just have to remind ourselves when fear arises to put our trust in God. Our faith in God and His word will stir our praise and cease our fears.