My eyes popped open with that distantly familiar feeling in my body and mind. My heart was racing. My body filling with an adrenaline rush of energy.
I looked at the clock … 4:09am.
Perhaps it was a forgotten dream, my mind dealing with stress of the day or an unwise bedtime snack … perhaps, but I will probably never know for certain what sent my body and mind into the flight or fight reaction.
I tried getting up to use the bathroom, hoping that would readjust my inner responses. I tried focusing my attention on deep and slow breathing (a trick I had learned years ago, when frustrated by insomnia), but nothing seemed to steady my heart.
Fear,
known or unknown, valid or absent, self-induced or left in our hands
can become our only focus,
robbing us of peace, of confidence, of joy … of hope.
The Bible offers us hope in times of fear:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7
“For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Do not be afraid, for I myself will help you,’ declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 41:13-14
Though a Bible verse is more of a bandaid than a cure (especially if the fear is connected to anxiety or depression), it is the bandaid of hope … than you and I are not alone.
As Corrie ten Boom said, “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.”
And that love of God is the hope that is stronger than fear.
itsawonderfilledlife 