UnexpectedSample

How many of us live our everyday lives fearful of the future just because we don’t know what it will look like? When, truthfully, we cannot control the past, present or future? Jesus spoke directly to our human tendency of fearing the unknown and worrying about the future when he said, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?...Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:27, 34).

God wants us to trust him, instead of worry, no matter what our future looks like. Trusting him is a process, not a one-time event. It’s the ongoing journey called life. It’s a cycle we repeat daily, hourly, sometimes even minute to minute, that leads to consistent growth. We overcome, get peace, but then get hit with another unexpected blow. But each time we go through the cycle, we grow stronger and more mature.

When we feel like we’re losing heart, God wants us to lean into him: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). In this verse, to have trouble means “to be squashed.” Unsolved problems, ongoing problems, tend to squash and suffocate us. They overwhelm us. They try to keep us in a state of perpetual fear, but we have to learn how to fight the good fight of faith in spite of how we feel. 

God equips us to resist fear by trusting him. When we expect instead of worry, then we can live with a heart full of hope. When we anticipate the best, instead of the worst, we can live faith-filled every day.

Adapted from Unexpected: Leave Fear Behind, Move Forward in Faith, Embrace the Adventure by Christine Caine. Copyright © 2018 by Christine Caine. Reprinted with permission of Zondervan Publishing. All rights reserved.