“But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.”-Psalm 56:3
In one of my favorite movies ever, “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, there’s a particular scene where Lucy is trying to “counsel” Charlie Brown, and she asks him some questions about what he is afraid of. Lucy asks if Charlie Brown is afraid of responsibility and quickly tells him that if he is afraid of responsibility, it’s called hypengyophobia. Lucy goes on to ask Charlie Brown if he has other fears and humorously explains various phobias. After listing a variety of specific phobias, finally Lucy says, “Or maybe you have pantophobia. Do you have pantophobia?” Charlie Brown replies, “What’s pantophobia?” Lucy explains how it’s the fear of EVERYTHING. In frustration and with some sarcasm, Charlie Brown finallly replies, “THAT’S IT!” Then he walks away.
Charlie Brown wasn’t afraid of everything, and thank God we aren’t afraid of everything either. But in this life, we will all face fears at one time or another. The fears will come in different forms. For David, he faced the legitimate fear for his physical safety many times. We know for a long period of time (over 10 years), David struggled with fear due to the fact that King Saul wanted to and threatened to kill David. We know when David wrote Psalm 56, he was fleeing from Saul and traveled to the Philistine territory where he was then seized by the Philistines. His life was in real danger. Understandably so, David battled with fear for his life. We too can count on times in our lives when we will be facing various tough situations that can be scary. The kind of fears we face are often about being afraid of the unknown, struggling with anxiety and stress, or about relationship difficulties. We may face fears connected to money or our jobs or what we’re to do or say in a specific circumstance. It’s not if we’ll ever be afraid, it’s when we’ll be afraid.
We can learn much from David when he wrote and prayed in Psalm 56:3, “But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in You (God).” David was a man’s man: He was mighty warrior. He faced many battles. He literally took down a giant named, Goliath, who was feared by everyone at the time. David wasn’t prone to timidity or lack of courage. Yet even David recognized that fear would come in his life. However, He also wisely chose what to do when he was afraid: “…When I am afraid, I will trust in You.” So might we be encouraged to face our fears similarly! May we trust in God in the middle of our scary times! When worry seems to be nagging away at our thoughts, it’s the right time to pray, “God, I’m scared, but I am going to trust in You!” When a situation is uncertain in our lives, may we trust in God who knows all things and is never confused. When we’re struggling with something relationally, physically, spiritually…it’s the perfect time to cry out to God, praying something like, “Lord, I’m hurting and baffled. But You get it! You know all things! Please help. I will trust in You.” The wise, comforting, powerful words from Proverbs 3:5-6 are ever helpful — “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.”
Cheer up, friends!
-Scott