My Dear Friends,
There was a time in my early life as a Christian that I was fearful of many things. Mostly I think it was the fear of not getting what I wanted. I can’t say that I was afraid of death because I knew that I would go to heaven. But there were other fears. The fear of rape, of robbery, of a fire, of a car accident and I lived with those fears a long time.
I have had "bad" things happen to me (I’ve been in a car accident). Some I brought on myself, some were brought by others. Looking back, I see now that all were known to God ahead of time and I had nothing to fear.
It’s only been in recent years I have come to the realization that fear is a choice. The Bible says if we belong to God, He has promised to protect us. Psalm 91:14-16 says, "The Lord says, ‘I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue them and honor them. I will satisfy them with a long life and give them my salvation.’"
If we put our faith in Jesus Christ the host of heaven encamps around us. Psalm 91:11-12 says, "For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone."
The reality of God’s protection was brought home to me one summer while I was still living in Arizona. I believe that God prevented me and my family from being in a terrible traffic accident.
My parents, my children and I took our yearly trip to San Diego. We always went in August before school started. We left early Friday morning to get across the desert and into the mountains before things heated up. As my dad drove, my mom and I prayed for journey’s mercies.
Needless to say, we had a wonderful time. We played on the beach, drove over the Coronado bridge, roamed through Sea Port Village - all the things you do on vacation. Everything was going more or less according to plan, until Sunday morning.
For some reason it took us longer to pack than usual. But we finally left the hotel in Chula Vista, and headed out to Point Loma and the Cabrillo National Monument. While wandering through the park, my dad discovered that he had neglected to turn in the room key.
So when we finished climbing the lighthouse, we went back to Chula Vista and the hotel. After stopping at a supermarket, we headed for Mission Bay Park and lunch. We relaxed, ate, fed the sea gulls, and played in the water. I don’t remember where we went from there. But I do remember that we were delayed all day.
We finally left San Diego around 7 or 8 and headed into the mountains. It was a beautiful evening and there was little traffic. Eventually we passed the Indian watch tower and began the descent into the desert. This particular part of the freeway has a steep grade and the state had built a "run away truck" ramp at the bottom. At the end of the ramp is a huge pile of sand.
By now the children had fallen asleep and my folks and I were still puzzling about all the delays. But we had all had such a good time that we really didn’t mind.
About this time we reached the bottom of the steep grade and came upon the "run away truck" ramp. There at the end, sitting atop the pile of sand was a semi tractor and trailer rig with the wheels hanging over the front of the sand.
Our first thought was "wow! We’d never seen that before. He must have been going pretty fast to land on top of the sand."
Our second thought was the realization that if we had left San Diego earlier, as we had planned, we might have been in front of that truck. We might have been pushed off the road into a ravine. There is really no way to know for sure.
But we were convinced that God had brought about our delays and kept us out of the path of that truck. I have to say that my idea of God got a whole lot bigger.
There is freedom in the knowledge that God knows everything and is never surprised by anything. There is a passage that speaks of the foreknowledge and sovereignty of God. In Isaiah 46:10 the Bible says, "Only I can tell you what is going to happen even before it happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish."
There is comfort in knowing that God is completely in charge. Isaiah 43:13 states, "From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can oppose what I do. No one can reverse my actions."
So, it is possible to live without fear. Paul tells us how in Philippians 4:6-7, "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand, His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."
Thanks for listening,
Sarah
