Tag: fear

Fear Versus Faith

- dannalundstrom 2 Comments

My daughter and I have a tradition every morning during our commute to school.   She picks a Bible verse to read to me, and we discuss what it means and how we may apply it to our lives.   It has become a very special time for both of us.   It is my favorite time of the day!

Two days ago she read me Romans 12:2.   I loved that she picked that verse.   Our discussion was rich and applicable to our lives on many fronts.   It was a treasured discussion that I won’t soon forget!

The beauty of God’s word is how it imprints our hearts and ministers to us in our times of need. Yesterday was the perfect example.   I had a fearful day. I was thankful when I awoke at 3 AM this morning to have Romans 12:2 and many other appropriate verses that immediately became my defense against the enemies of the night such as anxiety and worry.

It is funny because the day before my daughter read Romans 12:2, I had listened to a sermon by Tim Keller on Romans 12:1.   Romans 12:1 says: And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you.   Let them be a living and holy sacrifice–the kind he will find acceptable.   This is truly the way to worship him.

In the old testament, sacrifices were made in the form of animals.   We thankfully do not practice that style of sacrifice anymore.   Alternatively, we are the sacrifices we present to God each day.   It is an ongoing process of presenting our will, our desires and our needs to God and relinquishing our hands from them.   In his sermon, Keller humorously noted that the problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar.   He makes a great point!    In all seriousness, though, we are to be constant living sacrifices, and that takes intention, effort, determination, and time.   It is a marathon and not a sprint.

The truth is, whether we are running life as a marathon, renewing and committing ourselves to God daily or running as a sprint under our authority and sufficiency; both are challenging.   What the first gives us that the latter does not are promises of hope and joy.   It equips us with an ability to fall in all the pot holes along the race, only to rise, dust ourselves off and keep running.   The circumstances and conditions of our race do not define us, but they depict the character of a living God who lives inside us.   I would much rather be eternally equipped for the marathon of life, than dependent on myself or someone other than Jesus, to run this race with me.

When I fail to present myself coonsistently to God, renewing my mind daily, life gets messier than usual.

Fear is born of the world. It constantly lurks around vying for my attention.   It is an invisible assailant focused on extinguishing faith.   This is what fear looks like for me when I am not vigilant about soul maintenance:
F–fragile
E–emotional
A–alone
R–reactive

Alternatively, faith is not nurtured by the things of this temporary life, but an eternal one. Faith is a wiser choice, but it requires a constant renewing of my mind. Faith, while never perfectly mastered leads me closer to where I desire to be:
F–free
A–anchored
I–insulated
T–together
H–hopeful

Romans 12:2~Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

May we all run this race with joy and perseverance friends!   It is not efficient, but highly effective.   It is not for the weak but the wise.   It is not a promise of a perfect life but a purposeful one.   It is a promise of a perfect eternity.   That is good news!

The Christmas Gift That Almost Unwrapped Me

- dannalundstrom

 

In late November my husband told me he wanted to give our daughter a father/daughter week this summer at JH Ranch for Christmas.   That idea immediately sounded all the alarm buttons inside me, fear, anxiety, worry…

I love JH Ranch, their philosophy, the people and Who and what they represent.   Their programs are top notch and life changing, but I am still recovering from almost loosing our son last July in an accident while he was at camp there.   How could I agree to this? How could I even entertain the idea?   Was he crazy?   All these questions were brewing a chaotic storm in my heart and mind.

As quickly as that storm was surging, something else was surfacing.   Not something but Someone.   God’s truth began gently, quietly and consistently streaming in my head.   God does not call us to a life of fear.   2 Timothy 1:7~For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.   I was not wanting to hear that in my moment of melting.   I wanted to be fearful-very fearful! In this circumstance, fear seemed like a much safer choice.   However, I know this about God; he does not leave his children stuck in known places of “safety” He leads us to unknown positions of surrender.

It took me some time to be at peace with the decision to give our daughter that Christmas gift.   I did not want to, but I knew I was being called to.   Obedience to God’s will is seldom easy.   It often grieves us but always grows us.   It challenges us, and it chisels us into His image.   2 Timothy 3:16~All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

When we step into the shadow of death with a loved one, feel its sting and breathe its stale, suffocating air, we are changed.   When you almost lose something, you love so much, resisting the urge to fall into the alluring trap of putting ourselves in charge of the safety and protection of those we hold so dear is challenging!

Based on God’s word, though,  all indicators tell me He did not spare my son’s life for me to become my children’s savior.   He did not spare his life for me to grab on tighter and smother them in a bubble of supposed safety.   God did not spare my son’s life for me to turn my children into idols shaped in my image.   He spared my son’s life for His purpose, not my power.

Shortly after Christmas, friends and family began asking our children about their gifts.   Our daughter was asked, more than once, “what was your favorite gift?”   Each time she answered, “camp with my dad at JH Ranch next summer.   As people asked the question, I began to experience my body stiffening and my eyes squinting as if something was about to hit me.   It was!   I was “hit” with looks that if they could talk might say, “are you crazy!”   I received comments that resulted in shame.   I felt like an irresponsible mother for a short time, and it taxed the depth of peace that encompassed my decision.   I had to remember that walking in obedience is a process of frequent renewal to a life guided by Spirit, not self.

Initially, I felt the need to explain the gift to all the puzzled people.   My explaining something that is right between God and me, however, is only an attempt to tidy myself up to satisfy my need to meet the approval of people.   Explaining can become a form of self-righteousness.   I am grateful for the words in the Gospel of Matthew that release me from my need to explain.   Matthew 5:37 says, Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.     I am only accountable to One.  Sometimes what is right between God and me makes no sense to outside parties, but their understanding is not my responsibility.    I love the freedom in that!

After all the gift giving, a gift to my daughter that almost unwrapped me proved to be a gift for me, too.     It rewrapped me in the freedom; rest and comfort of a sovereign God who I am so grateful pursues me even through Christmas gifts.   Never has giving a Christmas gift been so laden with pain and so loaded with purpose.   Growth happens in grievous places.   That is good news, friends!

Exhortation for the Exhausted Today

- dannalundstrom

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Exhortation for the exhausted today:
Pain, fear, worry and sadness are not the absence of a faithful heart. They are the evidence of an alive soul. Faith is not built by the abolishment of feelings but authored amidst the presence of much pain where the determination to choose to trust in the plans of our Savior, not our situation, persevere.

Daily Prayer

- dannalundstrom

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ISIS, Ebola, Enterovirus, missing airliners, mystery stomach bug…Lord each day we wake to new seeds of fear being planted by news outlets, and subsequently spread through social media. These worries and concerns become fertilizers for growth of fear in our concerned and protective hearts. Assist us in finding that healthy space of being informed but not infiltrated, because this world is too heavy for us, but not for you. When we allow information to become infatuation, remind us Father that it is rooted in an unbelief of your sovereignty. You are surprised by nothing, and never caught off guard. Give us the grace to place our world and loved ones in your capable hands, and not our controlling ones. I ask that you continue to gaze upon our country, other countries and all those we love with merciful eyes. May we all be missionaries of peace graced with the message of faith in the midst of so much worldly fear.

An Unbelieving Believer

- dannalundstrom 1 Comment

Life is about enjoying, but as Christians, more than we are comfortable admitting, it is often more about enduring…enduring the diagnosis, enduring the loss of a job, broken relationships, the addiction, the absence of a prodigal child or spouse who likely may never return home. Life is about enduring the daily news, which everyday seems to stir anxiety and summon fear. It’s about enduring the loss of a parent, a sibling and even a child.  The unthinkable, the horrific, the unfair, none of these are strangers to this life we inhabit, and all of them are cloaked around someone who often does not deserve such pain.

Jesus did not deserve such pain. 

Pain is not partial in this life, but perseverance is.  Perseverance is reserved only for those who are fueled by a joy that cannot be bought or manufactured, but given by a relationship with a God who is the only one that can sustain us through extinguishable trials.

This life is full of moments that bring us joy, but equally those that challenge the depth of our faith in a God whose perceived silence feels deafening in the darkest of circumstances.  It is those circumstances, the dark ones, the ones that threaten our identity as a believer, and reveal the fundamental theology that we are living off of.  Sometimes this revelation is not what we would expect, especially to “believers.”

“You are an unbelieving believer.”

These painful, piercing words were spoken to define  me three years ago, by someone who had my best interest at heart.  Like a ball of fire that wold burn my soul, they seared me to my core.  It made me mad, it made me cry, and for a short time, I did not like her. I did not like her until I realized she was absolutely right!

I was going through a hard time.  I was stumbling, struggling and sometimes stalling life down a very unstable road.  Worry, anxiety and fear were my friends.   They were the trinity that were ruling my life. I was an unbelieving believer, because I was not living off of the truths of the gospel.  I was living off of the fears of an opportunistic, fallen world that can easily overtake those who are not deeply anchored to the rock of life-Jesus.

If we believe God is sovereign, if we believe He works all things for the good, if we believe He will not abandon us…how is there room for excessive worry, anxiety and fear in our lives?  There was in mine three years ago, because saying you believe and even thinking you believe are not the same as living as you believe.

Belief is a very active, ongoing, moment to moment renewal to fight to live that which we say we know. It is not enough to know, we have to fight to really know.  It is not enough to hear, we have to fully engage to really hear.  It is not even enough to see, we have to seek to really see for ourselves, otherwise, how can we really believe?

It is not that we should strive to go through this life worry free, anxiety free and fear free.  That is not possible, I know!  The goal is to live this life reflecting the goodness, faithfulness and character of a God who is carrying us well through all those difficult times.

We are allowed to be afraid, Jesus was afraid to the point of what was described in Luke as sweating blood.  We are allowed to have worry and anxiety, but none of these things will have us if God completely has our hearts, our minds and our beliefs surrendered and anchored to  His promises.

A life of surrender looks a lot different, and it feels a lot different.  It feels light and free and it looks not always smooth, but definitely safe.

May we all fight the good fight of belief, even when it makes no sense.  May we fight to believe when we don’t want to, and worry and fear seem like a more appealing choice.  May we fight hardest when God seems quietest. May we all remember that although HE sometimes is seemingly silent, HE is never still. You never endure alone. Spend a little time with Jesus today and allow him to engage you in your endurance.  He will give you rest.

A Little, BIG Choice

- dannalundstrom

fear-or-faith

Every morning is a new start, and we wake up to the reality of a simple choice. A choice to choose one of two things that will chart the course of our day-fear or faith. Because we live in a fallen world this is an ongoing choice that has to be renewed daily, sometimes hourly, and even minute by minute. It really is the most daunting, small choice we make each morning.

Frankly, fear is the easier choice. It requires no fight, no hope and when we are tired, weak and weary it accepts us with open arms asking nothing of us. No effort, no commitment, no nothing! It can seemingly be a non-threatning friend whose presence can actually become more secure and comfortable if we abide there too long.

Faith is the harder choice because it requires us to fight: fight to believe when we are tired; fight to trust we we are skeptical; fight to understand when life is unfair, difficult and cruel.

Fear is unpredictable and has many faces. It can grip us to the point of disability. It can make our bodies shake, our hearts race and risk the stability of our physical, emotional and spiritual well being. It can be the quiet whisper or the loud scream of cynicism that burdens us with our unbelief.

Faith, is the more stable choice because it requires of us only one thing-belief. The belief in what is promised will never fail. Fear will fool us, sicken us and make us crazy, and even sometimes comfort us, but it will always fail us. Faith only requires one thing, but it gives much: protection, hope, security, and an assurance of a beautiful, pain free, inheritance that is promised us if we just believe (just to mention a few)! Fight friends!