Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Read 2 Timothy 1:7
By Jason Wade
I am a pharmacy manager. Over the past three years, we have had a lot of turnover for various reasons. I began to think that people didn’t want to work with me. As I examined myself, fear set in. It started out small and gradually grew until it consumed me. I couldn’t sleep at night. I spent my off days constantly worrying about the pharmacy. I couldn’t even enjoy spending time with my family. I began praying for God to take it away, to help me, and to fix it. I trusted God and I believed He would do it. But things didn’t change. I began to wonder if I really did trust God and believe He could do it.
Shortly after this, I heard a message from my pastor. There were two chairs on the stage. They represented demonic reasoning and divine revelation. He sat in one chair and said that in this chair you would experience many bad things. When he named fear, I really tuned in. He quoted today’s Bible verse. He then moved to the other chair and said that in this chair you would experience many good things. He said: “Fear not! Jesus is Lord!” The Holy Spirit directed me to 1 John 4:18. Perfect love drives out fear. Suddenly, it all became clear. I had a pride issue. I believed that the pharmacy couldn’t function without me. My pride was feeding my fear. I got out of the demonic reasoning chair, repented of my sinful pride, and sat down in the divine revelation chair. I began to really believe 2 Timothy 1:7 for the first time in my life.
Applying the Truth as an Individual
Are you experiencing fear? Do you want to be fearless?
Which chair are you sitting in? Do you know?
Applying the Truth as a Church
What is Pleasant Valley afraid of?
Read Romans 8:3. Has Pleasant Valley used demonic reasoning or divine revelation when adversity has come?
I know that this is also a daily struggle for me. I tend to be a very independant person and try to take on tasks by myself instead of asking for help from others, not just physically but spiritually as well.(suppose that would be my fear of others letting me down and not wanting to give them the opportunity to prove me wrong) It is easy to praise God when everything is going great but can be very difficult to be still and wait for him to work, removing self and having faith. I find myself constantly repeating, while I am ever hopefull it is my faith that sustains me. These simple words have a very humbling effect on me because they have found me in my most desperate of times.
ReplyDeleteWhen everything got bad in the past, I would lock myself in a room with no windows and turn off all the lights to let myself have a melt down. I would cry and tell myself that it doesn't matter, it doesn't hurt, and I do not care. I am an emotional stuffer, keeping everything locked up in my emotional closet until I just can't take it anymore and everything spills out. Not a very mature or religious approach but it was my way of coping with whatever last injury I could not fit into that darn emotional closet. I have since learned to deal with things as they come up and not to let my closet get messy :) I couldn't do it without God's patience and understanding. He makes a way for all things. He has put loving family and friends in my life and taught me that I am not alone, I need only to ask and trust.
I have always spoken with God on a very personal level knowing that he, somehow, someway, was listening. There have been times I would not have this constant chatter, ceaseless prayer talk with Him and that's my first sign that I am not trusting in the Lord and using the right judgement. I try to be an uplifting friend that encourages others to pray and wait on the Lord when they come to me with problems that seem to be impossible. Living in a college town, everyday seems to bring a new impossible situation, with drama and many different influences.
The other day a young woman left her class and came into my office having an anxiety attack. She was crying and hyperventalating, said she felt like her heart was going to explode because it was beating so fast. I remember wanting to give her a big hug and tell her that everything would be ok. Instead I gave her some food and something to drink and said a prayer. I tried to talk to her but it wasn't long before someone came and picked her up. She was worried about a test that she was about to take. I remember thinking, how could something so small create so much stress. I suppose that is just one small example of what can happen when you let fear take control of your life.