When I am afraid…
When
I am afraid…
By Karen Lucia Tapia Hernandez
When I was a child we used to have a wooden
coat holder that became my nightmare. As soon as my mother turned off the
light, I felt and thought, the coat holder was something else. I used to stare
at it for a long time and hid underneath my blanket, for I use to say it was a man
with a hat staring at me. Panicked, I woke my mother up and used to tell her: “Mum,
there’s a man that’s staring at me!” She tried to console me, turned on the
lights and said: “There’s nothing, look at the coat holder, it is just clothes.
Everything will be alright.” Just like when I woke up and sought my mother as a
source of comfort, God is telling us now: “Do not worry. Everything will be
alright.”
It is in the moments that we feel afraid or
uncertain that we realise whom we can trust or whom not. It is normal that we may
have been disappointed, maybe even numerous times, yet our Lord, will never
forsake us. Hence we need to remember that nothing should take away our tranquillity.
If we align our thoughts to that of Jesus Christ and to the kindness of our
God, we will be at complete peace.
Joshua 1:5 (NIV)
5 No one will be able to
stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so
I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Usually we tend to worry about our family,
our health, maybe money, work, university, school, or some other concern, yet
if we place our worries and anxieties in God, He will grant us peace and His refreshment.
Sometimes, we focus intensely on our concerns and fears that we forget to enjoy
the rest that God has given us.
Matthew 11:28-29 (NLT)
28 Then Jesus said, “Come
to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you
rest. 29 Take
my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
Additionally, besides that peace that God
grants us when we trust Him, the constant search of His presence and His peace
makes us get a deeper knowledge of Him. For how do you trust someone if you do
not get to know him? How do you know someone if we do not seek him? Some people
may wonder, how do I get to know Him? Others may even say, how do I get God to
speak to me? And one of God’s wonderful attributes is that He is a God of
Opportunities and He gives us the opportunity to seek Him and in His word (The
Bible) we can find what He tells us.
Jeremiah 33:3 (AMP)
3 ‘Call to Me and I
will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things,
[things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot
distinguish.’
Oh, the wonders of God, indescribable and
great! Imagine that our God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth is interested in
you! Yes, you! Just like when someone gives you their contact number or email,
this only happens when the person wants to keep in touch with you or connect
with you somehow. And this verse is literally telling us, “Call to Me and I
will answer you,” it means that He is willing to hear us out so we can connect
with Him, confide in Him, and trust Him. For trust is only granted to someone
in whom you confide in and have intimacy with[i].
Moreover, it may be we encounter situations
we feel are out of our control and may cause much stress in our lives, but in
those moments we see God intervene and comfort us saying that no matter what
happens, if we trust Him, we will have His protection and His care. And not
just that, He says that if we fear Him, He will bless us publicly.
Psalm 31:19 (NIV)
19 How abundant are the good
things
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you bestow in the sight of all,
on those who take refuge in you.
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you bestow in the sight of all,
on those who take refuge in you.
We have such a
kind, generous, merciful God, that the moment that we place our trust in Him,
He even takes away those things that we think no one can save us from. In His
word, we can see the beautiful promise in Psalm 34:22 (NKJV): “The Lord redeems
the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.”
Let’s trust our God and let Him be our
Unshakable Rock. Let’s trust Him and His promises, for the moment we make Him
our shelter we will see the manifestation of His great works. Whether you want
to sing, dance, talk in prayer, read His word or write to Him, He is always
willing to hear us out while He may be found[ii].
And let’s remember His vow:
Isaiah 26:3(NKJV)
3 You will keep him in
perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
And if you have not accepted our Lord Jesus in
your heart, I urge you to do it today and pray the following prayer out loud:
“Lord Jesus, I ask you for forgiveness of my
sins, for my sins separate me from you. I recognize you as my only, sufficient
and truthful Saviour. I break every covenant with the world, with the flesh and
with the enemy. I give you thanks for the sacrifice in the cross. I know if I
were to die today, I will be in your arms. Amen.”
If
you prayed this prayer today, write to me at kltapiahernandez@gmail.com, I
would love to hear from you. And if this edified you, please share it with
someone else. We are a family in Christ and we are here to help each other out.
May God bless you!