Speaking Of Life 1045 | Do Not Fear
Anthony Mullins
Does anxiety ever tell your tongue what to say? A dear friend from church shared a humorous story of when her tongue told a different story than she intended.
Wilma was hosting a jewelry show at a friend’s house. As everyone was mingling around, Wilma accidentally stepped on the dog’s water bowl, spilling water on the floor. She quickly grabbed the water bowl and ran to the kitchen to get a towel. Before she could return, her friend saw the water on the floor and said out loud, “Oh no, my dog wet the floor!” Wilma, knowing how embarrassing this would be to her host, anxiously rushed in and blurted out, “No, no, the dog didn’t wet the floor. That was me!”
You can imagine the look of astonishment from everyone in the room.
True story! And a funny one.
But often what we say and do out of anxiety is not a laughing matter. Have you ever made matters worse by trying to rush in to solve a problem you’re anxious about? I know I have.
There are many places in the Bible where we are told to not be anxious. Psalms 37 says “Do not fret.” The Apostle Paul told the church in Philippi, “Do not be anxious about anything.” Jesus is recorded multiple times telling his followers “Do not worry.” Altogether, the most repeated command in all of scripture is “Do not fear.”
The solution to not being anxious or afraid springs from a reality of who God is as revealed in Jesus Christ. In Jesus, we find that God is love. God is full of mercy. God keeps his promises. God is good. Even in a book of lament, Scripture speaks of God’s goodness. This goodness relieves our anxiety and fills us with hope.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “the Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:21-26)
As we wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord, his goodness enables us to deny worry, anxiety, fear and fret from having a place in our souls. Instead, our words and actions flow out of our hope in God’s goodness.
If anxious words are telling you a different story, take time to listen to God’s word spoken in Jesus. Filled with his love, fear and anxiety lose their power.
I’m Anthony Mullins, Speaking of Life.
