In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have refuge.
Proverbs 14:26
This proverb jumped out at me recently.
Do I have strong confidence?
Lately the answer has been “no.”
I can easily get upset by thinking through future possibilities. This past year has brought uncertainty on many levels. Whether it’s in the world, the nation, the church, the home… life has been disrupted.
My mind convulses as I begin to imagine scenarios:
What’s going to happen this year?
What’s going to happen next year?
How long will it be like this?
I can quickly grow anxious thinking about all the “what if’s.”
But the Lord encourages my heart.
I can’t be confident in a changing world.
I can’t put my trust in fading mist.
But I can run to Refuge.
He is my strong confidence.
I know my Good Father loves me, and has promised to be my Shield.
In Christ, who lives forever, I have all I could ever need.
There’s no expiration date, there’s no termination.
He will never evict me from His shelter and His love.
He is always there to hold me.
So instead of crying helplessly in the wind and rain,
I will run to my Waiting Refuge.
He won’t turn anyone away.
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Something comes out of nowhere and hits you like a suckerpunch.
A car wreck.
A diagnosis.
A pink slip.
An exploding relationship.
Maybe there were warning signs, but you missed it.
This disaster caught you off guard, and you’re terrified of it.
There are two ways to react to sudden fear:
Look to God, or try and solve it on your own.
King Asa is a prime example.
For the first ten years of his reign, there was peace in Judah.
Suddenly, the Ethiopian army of a million men surges against his kingdom.
Asa had never experienced anything like this before, but he knew who to turn to:
Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, “LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength;
so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude.
O LORD, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.”
2 Chronicles 14:11
King Asa felt helpless, but he knew that God was able to help.
God did deliver Asa, and his kingdom ended up in better shape than before.
Fast forward 20 years.
There had been 2 decades of peace – no war, no threats.
Suddenly, Asa’s rival, the king of Israel, captures an important city and begins to cut off Judah’s supply routes.
Out of nowhere, disaster hit.
This time, King Asa forgot how the LORD had helped him.
Instead of calling on God, he turns to an enemy king for help.
He asks the king of Aram to attack Israel so that they would stop attacking Judah.
Asa takes treasures out of the house of God and gives them to the king of Aram as payment.
Risky move.
But it worked.
Aram attacked Israel, and Israel left Judah alone.
Asa must have felt pretty pleased with himself.
He got ‘er done.
Disaster averted.
Then a prophet comes and tells him that he messed up big-time.
If he had relied on God instead of the enemy king, he would have triumphed over all his enemies.
Instead, he will have continual war the rest of his days.
King Asa gets angry at this message from God, and throws the prophet in prison.
He doesn’t humble himself and repent.
He ends his days miserably, with an incurable disease in his feet.
Even in his sickness, he seeks the help of physicians and refuses to seek the Lord.
Do not be afraid of sudden fear
Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes;
For the LORD will be your confidence
And will keep your foot from being caught.
Proverbs 3:25-26
The first time disaster struck, Asa responded the right way.
The Lord was his confidence.
The second time, Asa responded the wrong way.
He depended on someone else, and his foot was (literally) caught for the rest of his days.
When sudden fear comes, we don’t have to be afraid.
We can be confident of the Lord’s protection and help in the midst of a distressing situation.
If you’re going through something dark right now, make it a point to continually remember all the ways He has helped you in the past.
Don’t forget how strong He is, and how delighted He is to come to our rescue when we call on Him.
He is our confidence.
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When you sign up for the free sample, you’ll also get KeyWords – a weekly devotional + writing update to your inbox!
