Nervous Breakthrough: Finding Freedom From Fear and Anxiety in a World That Feeds It.Sample

I boarded a ski lift ride called the Chondola that would take my family up the Smoky Mountains for spectacular sightseeing and incredible family fun. Our feet dangled as the single bar came over our heads to protect us from falling out of the seat. My youngest daughter seemed like she could easily slip through the space where the seat and the bar came together. I looked up, and there was an iron piece that clasped the seat to a steely rope that pulled us up the mountain. Then, fear set in. The thoughts came rushing in. What if the rope breaks? What if that iron clasp comes detached and we fall to our death? I white-knuckled that safety bar the whole way up the mountain as if it could save me, and I barely took time to breathe. I had no control over my circumstances, and I panicked. More fear rose with every inch we climbed.

That’s how our world is, too. Unless we are grounded in the firm foundation of Jesus, we wind up striving for something that’s not godly. We try to make it to the top of something, and with every inch we climb, fear rises. Globally, the pandemic of fear and anxiety is at an all-time high. I’m willing to put my neck out on the line and say something bold. Fear is rising because faith is dying. The need for control has us white-knuckling something, and it isn’t God. We are not living our lives surrendered fully. God is often our last resort instead of our first response. Lack of surrender is how we open the door for fear and anxiety to take root.

Here is my definition: true surrender yields to who is in authority. It puts aside your agenda and elevates the plan of the one in authority. Our ultimate authority is the one and only Jesus Christ. True surrender asks daily, What do you want me to do, Lord? We continually seek his direction in the Word and in prayer; we genuinely want what he wants for our lives.

Read the following scriptures in the Bible plan and then ask yourself, are you yielded to the authority of Jesus Christ in full surrender?