Afraid

A few weeks ago, Paul preached a sermon on Trust vs. Control, and the memory verse that we were challenged to memorize was Psalm 56:3 "When I am afraid, I will trust in you."

Now, I don't consider myself a fearful person. I am not afraid:

• of the dark,
• of spiders,
• of frogs,
• of snakes (when I have a gun).
• of speaking in public.

As a guy, at least I know not to show fear in front of others.

So I am amazed how many times in the last two weeks, that verse has come to my memory. Actually, how many times God has brought it to my mind. I am realizing how many times I am afraid of:

• what others think
• conflict
• making the tough call
• having the hard conversation
• making a mistake
• offending someone

You know, fear paralyzes. Whether it is fear of the dark, of snakes, of mom. Or whether it is fear of others, of failure, or of conflict. Fear causes us to hold back from saying what we need to or taking an action that is necessary.

My prayer to God is "when I am afraid, I will trust in you!!!"

Passion Week

This week, I was reflecting on the events and people in Passion Week. Also on my mind was Paul’s talk this past Sunday on the core attitude of trust vs. control.

At the beginning of Passion Week, the crowd definitely seemed to trust Jesus. They were laying down palm branches and even their own coats for Jesus and his colt to ride on. That was definitely an act of trust. And you know, it seemed easy to trust Jesus when he was their triumphant king leading them to victory.

It is easy to trust when following a triumphant King.

But later on in the week, it seemed another attitude was predominant—one of fear and trying to control.

Our trust, or lack thereof, is revealed not when things are going good,
but when they seem out of control.

• The religious leaders, out of fear of losing their influence, plotted to kill Jesus.
• Judas tried to control his financial destiny by betraying Jesus.
• Peter cut off the high priest’s servant’s ear, in an attempt to control with the sword.
• The rest of the disciples fled, for fear of their own lives.
• Pilate dodged responsibility (stuck his head in the sand) for fear of making the religious leaders mad.
• Peter, out of fear, denied Jesus three times.

If you look at Jesus attitude, it remained one of trust. In the Garden, when He seemed to be battling the cross, he said, “Father, not my will, but yours be done”. He trusted His Father.

Then Jesus showed us the supreme example of trust—HE GAVE HIS OWN LIFE. Even his posture on the cross shows his trust. His arms stretched wide. He did not try to control. HE TRUSTED.

Today, we know the end of the book. We know that the Jesus we follow is victorious. The battle has been won—just read Revelation. So go back to my statement at the beginning:

It is easy to trust when following a triumphant King.