Last night, I was anxious. I’d had a rough day, and I felt both deluged by work and discouraged by what felt like a punch in the soul that hit me earlier that day. As it got closer to bedtime, I found my anxiety level rising as my fear was increasing.
At that moment, the Holy Spirit reminded me of John 12:15 where Jesus says, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!””
Fear not. Did you know that that is the most common command in all of the Bible? Roughly 150 times depending upon which translation of the Bible you prefer, God tells us in some form or fashion things like “fear not” and “do not be afraid”.
When the Bible repeats something, it is because we repeatedly forget and need to be reminded.
What are you afraid of?
What is consuming your time, energy, and thoughts?
What is keeping you up at night?
What is robbing you of your joy?
What painful future are you seeking to avoid?
Have you ever seen footage of an avalanche? Things begin rather simply with snow and/or ice moving atop a mountain. Slowly, things begin to slip and not stop. Before long, it seems like the entire mountain is coming undone and cascading down with great force at breakneck speed.
Fear is what happens when it seems like something in our life is beginning to shake. Whether it is our health, finances, marriage, friendships, or safety, the fear is that the shaking will continue until we are destroyed by an avalanche coming down to bury us alive.
What is the answer to the false trinity of fear, worry, and anxiety?
Most every time that the God tells us to “fear not” in the Bible, God then says something like, “for I am with you”. Therefore, the answer to our fear is faith in God’s presence. On this point, Jesus teaches two crucial truths.
One, you are loved like a “daughter”. As a daddy of two wonderful daughters this is incredibly comforting. I would do literally anything for my girls, and love them with all my heart. To look at my girls and remind myself that God loves me with the Father’s heart like I love my girls is incredibly comforting. My girls know that I am always there to do anything for their good and I need to remind myself that God is there for His kids like that.
Two, Jesus says, “your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”. In that culture, the king rode a horse during times of war or a donkey during times of peace. When life feels like war, Jesus rides in to bring us peace as the King of peace. This peace begins internally as the Holy Spirit, if we surrender to Him, calms our nerves, comforts our fears, and controls our emotions.
Sometimes the avalanche never comes and we are okay. Other times, the avalanche does come and because of the presence of the King of peace you can still be okay even though nothing else is okay.
Where do you need to invite God to bring peace into your heart right now today?