{"id":903,"date":"2022-01-11T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lorihatcher.com\/?p=903"},"modified":"2022-01-18T21:36:49","modified_gmt":"2022-01-19T02:36:49","slug":"the-best-way-to-fight-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lorihatcher.com\/?p=903","title":{"rendered":"The Best Way to Fight Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019d like to talk with you about a problem. I\u2019ll see you in my office first thing Monday morning. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever gotten an email like this? On Friday afternoon at five, when the whole weekend stretches before you, and there\u2019s nothing you can do except fret? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or how about a voice mail like this one: \u201cHello Mrs. Gooding, this is Dr. Simpson. I just got the results of Fluffy\u2019s pathology report. Unfortunately, it\u2019s not good. The office is closed for the weekend, but call me first thing Monday, and we\u2019ll discuss your options.\u201d Two days to wait with nothing to do but worry and cry. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>When was the last time you were afraid? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Afraid you\u2019d lose your job, your health, your home, your loved one? Afraid of punishment or persecution, poverty, or pain? When have you faced an agonizing wait\u2014for a diagnosis, a deliverance, a breakthrough, or a rescue? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes God Allows Uncertainty <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes God allows uncertainty into our lives to test us. He tested Abraham, and he tested Job. He tested the Israelites in the wilderness: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRemember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you<\/strong> in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands\u201d (Deuteronomy 8:2). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But unlike the statement above, \u201c. . . there\u2019s nothing you can do except fret,\u201d there is something else we can do. Every fearful situation leaves us with two choices.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two Choices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We can respond in fear, or we can respond in faith.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we respond in fear, we torment ourselves with every possible scenario\u2014all horrible. We can\u2019t sleep, we can\u2019t eat (or we overeat), and we can\u2019t concentrate on anything but IT.<\/em> Scary thoughts consume every waking moment. What if . . . ? What if . . . ? What if . . . <\/em>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we\u2019re Christians, our all-consuming worry makes a mockery of everything we say we believe. Our mouths say, \u201cI believe God\u2019s promises,\u201d but our actions say, I believe God\u2019s promises only when everything\u2019s going well<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n