Where Fear and Faith Collide

I received some potentially scary health news about a close family friend. My mind when to what-ifs. And that’s a dark, scary place to be.

I let my mind work itself into a migraine headache that medication wouldn’t touch and landed my butt in bed for three days. After three days of darkness, silence (because even the cat licking his fur sounded like a sonic boom) and pain, I realized I’d let stress rule over me.

Instead of trying to control what I can’t, I turned to my Bible. and was reminded of one of God’s names, Jehovah Sal-I. (God is my rock)

For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? The Lord (Jehovah) is my rock (Sal’I), my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2

The earth’s foundation is rock. In the same way, God is my foundation. Life is full of ups and downs. I tend to be up when circumstances are up and down when they are down. I tend to be up when people are up and down when they are down.

But when I build my thoughts on the sand of my emotions, it is a roller-coaster in my head. I need a rock, a sure foundation to form my thoughts on.  I realized feelings are a figment of my imagination. They aren’t reality and they aren’t truth.

I can set my mind on truth, whether or not I feel like it. I believe the Bible is truth. I believe God is who He says He is and He will do what He says He will do. I believe His promises are true.

In trusting God, I have the strength to love and encourage my friend. In trusting myself, I end up in bed unable to function. In hindsight, I’m thankful for a migraine because it was a strong motivation to change my thinking. If stress didn’t trigger migraines for me, I would probably continue worrying and fretting.

Because God is my rock, instead of letting my mind go to scary places, worrying about what could happen, I choose to think about what I know. I had a friend tell me once God doesn’t live in my what-ifs or my imaginations. He lives in the present.

God doesn’t promise a pain-free life. He does promise me he will never leave me or forsake me. God doesn’t promise me all my prayers will be answered with a yes. He does promise that he is working all things for good.

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God, you know I love my friend. I’m sorry I forgot you love her more than I do. I set my mind on the truths that you are God. You are our healer. I pray you would heal my friend. I pray you would bring good doctors into her life and strengthen her through the journey ahead. I trust you to work all things for good, for that is what you say in your Word.