“When my anxieties multiply, your comforting calms me down.” Psalm 94:19 (CEB)

Courage

It can feel scary if I look at the future. Yes—my mind wanders there occasionally. I find I need to pull my thoughts back in immediately!  God gives grace—but only for today. He doesn’t store it up for the future, or give it to us ahead of time. It’s a daily journey. I realize that I need to be careful in this regard, and not move ahead of what God has provided for.

When we were in Afghanistan, I learned from someone about the freedom to live without fear. Zia was an amazing man. He was blind, but you would have never known it. He lived life to the fullest. If my memory serves me correctly, he spoke eight languages. He had memorized the Koran. He could quote the Bible from memory. He was brilliant.

Zia came to know Jesus. He was followed constantly, arrested many times, and eventually martyred for his faith. He had opportunities to “escape” to the West, but he chose to stay and help others. He was fearless. He was a sightless man who could see from eternal perspective and knew no fear of earthly challenges. I’ve never met anyone else like him.

I have nowhere near the same level of courage as Zia, but I continually ask God to help me not fear the future. I want to live each day I’ve been given to the fullest. I want to love the Lord, and trust Him on this unexpected journey. I want to receive the grace I need from His loving hand. I want to keep my thoughts focused on the present, and not allow worry and fear for the future to bombard my mind.

I know I can’t do all this on my own, especially without Floyd,  but I’m trusting God to help me!

365 times in the Bible it says “do not fear/do not be afraid.” I love that! I can use one verse for each day of the year. The enemy loves to cloud our minds with thoughts of fear, but God provided a verse for us for each day to remind us not to have fear.

“Our Father, when concerns for the future come our way, we cling to the promises in Your Word that You will be with us and we don’t need to fear. Thank You!”