Monday, February 14, 2011

GOT FEAR? THINK TRUTH!

This past Sunday, I spent most of the service talking to a friend of mine. We hit a lot of topics and the time went by so quickly, both of us were surprised when people started leaving and we realized church was over! Whoops!

One of the things she told me was that her husband had read or listened online to someone saying that in only a few years time, our U.S. economy would collapse and we all need to be ready to survive when that happens.

I don't know about you, but disaster scenerios tend to make me feel panicky. I feel very vulnerable because I live in the city and our home and property are not necessarily conducive to "living off the land." Unless, by living off the land, you mean killing squirrels with a shovel and cooking them on our gas grill.

Add to this, I really don't have a lot of "Little House on the Prairie" type of skills. I'm lucky if I can get a button sewn on straight. If I tried to can anything, I'd probably poison all of us! I am a city girl and sort of wimp, to tell the truth.

My problem is I have a very active imagination though, so I can leap frog rather quickly from a possibility to a worst-case scenerio in a matter of seconds.

I left church feeling a bit shaky, picturing the kids trying to kill squirrels with rocks and wondering how I would skin and cook the things anyway! See? Overactive imagination at work! I pushed the idea out of my mind. But I could still feel my fears breathing down my neck. I tried to act like they weren't there, but I wasn't fooling anyone.

Now, don't get me wrong. It's important to have some emergency precautions taken care of. I mean, if the power goes out, it's a good idea to have some flashlights or candles and maybe a battery-powered radio. It's probably a good idea to have some extra food on hand.

But for me, fear is something that is always ready to be my companion. It is just waiting for the least little invitation to come barging into my life and make itself at home.

Let's face it, the old U.S.A. isn't in the best shape these days. As time goes by, we DO get closer to the end times, too. I don't know what those will look like but my guess is it won't be all roses and daisies. Even though I believe in the Rapture, that doesn't mean it might not get kind of bad before it happens. World events can seem scary and make us feel vulnerable and frightened.

It's would be easy for me to start piling up toilet paper and toothe paste; to stock up on first aid supplies and extra water. I'm not saying that it is necessarily bad to do a little preparing, BUT it I have to be careful NOT to put my faith in the stockpile.

Eventually, even the best stocked emergency pile will run out. When we put our faith in things of this earth, we will be eventually disappointed and we are still vulnerable.

As I was praying about this, God brought to mind Phil. 4:6-8, particularly the last part of that. "Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think on these things."

The part that caught my attention was "whatever is true." It IS true that the world can be a scary place - disasters, illness, tragedies, ugliness in all forms are all around us. But it is also true that THIS is not our home. We have something much greater waiting for us AND we have Someone much bigger on our side.

It is also true that God has made some promises to us to calm our fears, to reassure us that He cares, He sees us and we have no reason to worry or be anxious about anything - even the end of the world as we know it.

"My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:19

"Do not worry then, saying "What will we eat?" or "What will we drink?" or "What will we wear for clothing?" For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you." Matt. 6:31-33

Whatever the future brings, as long as I have my God, my emergency kit is full!
~ Blessings, Bronte

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