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I came upon an article about fear this weekend. I forget what I was even googling, but the article, God’s Confidence vs. Our Fears, was there among the search results. The article emphasizes a great verse that I should commit to memory and repeat a couple hundred thousand times a day.
Proverbs 3:25-26: “Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your feet from being snared.”
Have no fear of sudden disaster? Are you kidding? Seriously? I am the princess of “What if?!!!!" My mother is the reigning queen. She taught me everything she knows about worrying. I learned from a pro. I am a pro. I am so good at it. I can conjure up the most unlikely and far fetched scenarios….usually focusing on the worst case ones. They rarely happen. And the article points out a quote by Mark Twain.
“I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”
Yeah? Well what about the quote the gist of which is…
I know worry works. The things I worry about never happen.
Great quotes pointing out, in a tongue in cheek kind of way, the futility of worry….
Yet, somehow such fears of the unknown are not chased away by a clever quote. Knowing that most fears never happen doesn’t bring sleep late in a worry-filled night.
Worry usually doesn’t keep me awake at night. It does, however, occupy my thoughts many, many days. And often I am aware of danger lurking just around the corner. Anticipating the rug being pulled out from under me….or the other shoe dropping. Thud!! It seems the fear of sudden disaster is always kind of hovering in the background. So what’s all this about the Lord being your confidence?
I guess it’s all about perspective. Enlarging our perspective from micro to macro. Minor to major. Carnal to spiritual. Earthly to heavenly. This world is not our home. This body is not the real us. What happens to it, here in this realm, is of no lasting consequence and might even be for our ultimate good. (what?!!!) And when this whole concept is just too much for the egoic mind to wrap itself around, we can cling to the verse…my new mantra….the Lord will be your confidence.
3 comments:
I have to remind myself all the time that it's only our limited perspective that gives us sorrow and makes us cry. Ken Wilber said (this a paraphrase cause I can't remember exactly what he said) that on the level of the Absolute, everything is perfect and just as it should be; on the relative level the world is in terrible shape and everything desperately needs fixing.
It's a real challenge to live betwixt and between. May we learn to see through the eyes of God, and to trust in goodness.
Hi Mae...
I was out of town this past weekend visiting my mother...still in the hospital but scheduled for release in a few days. I don't think she's ready. This causes me distress...fear. I could list a dozen things that I am fearful about and could downright obsess about this morning...if I let myself dwell there. Living betwixt and between is indeed a very difficult challenge.
Cindi....
I hope your Mom does well. I know how heartbreaking it is to see a parent's health fail. I won't repeat the standard Christian cliches that don't seem to get at the depth of the pain, but I will say that I have found meditation to be more helpful than anything when times are difficult...
Be blessed...
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