Psalm 56:3-4

3 But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. 4 I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?

David admitted his weakness when he said “I am afraid.” And like David all of us have fears of some kind. Maybe you are afraid of losing your job, losing your finances, or losing a loved one that you have depended on for affection and acceptance. Maybe you have fears about loneliness, fears about being accepted by others, fears about failure, fears about rejection, fears about your children, fears about your relationship or marriage, or fears of facing tomorrow. Whatever the fears may be, all of us have uttered the words “I am afraid” at one time or another whether privately or publicly. The feeling of fear has a powerful influence on how we think and act. For some it creates a fight or flight impulse, others are paralyzed and fear prevents them from fulfilling their purpose in life. The reality is that all of us react in the grip of fear.

Fear’s desire is to conquer the soul, to isolate us emotionally so that we can’t enjoy the life God has purchased through His Son Christ Jesus. Yet God wants us to live free from the torment of fear 2 Timothy 1:7 declares, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” God desires for us to live the abundant life while the force of fear wants to prevent us from experiencing the abundant life of joy, the abundant life of peace, the abundant life of freedom, the abundant life of courage, and the abundant life of prosperity. Fear does not act alone but brings with it its twin cousins of discouragement and depression. Together they shout death to our purpose, death to our promises, death to our dreams. Is fear trying to rob you of your dream, to kill and stop you from enjoying the life that God has provided and intended for you to live?

David’s life was governed by fear instead of being guided by faith and he knew it, so He made the decision to trust and turn to God and to break the grip of fear through:

• Confession

David confessed his fear, he admitted to being afraid of people, he said in Psalm 56:1 “O God, have mercy on me, for people are hounding me.” This was a very real fear and would have included Saul and his army as well as the Philistines in Gath. David understood that in order to break the grip of fear we have to confess it to God. One of the benefits of confession is identification, as David confessed he also identify his fear. What is it and who is it that causes you to cower in fear? David did not deny his fear, he identified it and confessed it to God. Ask yourself, “What am I really afraid of?” What is the nature of your fear? Are you afraid of failure that will lead to criticism? Are you afraid of failure that will lead to rejection? Are you afraid that your weakness and inadequacies will be exposed? Are you afraid that others will punish, misuse, or abuse you? What is it? Will you identify it, admit it to yourself and confess it to God?

• Confronting

Secondly we have to face our fears. This is why identifying them is so important; you can’t confront what you do not know. Our natural tendency is to give in to fear, to bow your knee, and give ground but confronting means we will stand firm against it. We must remember that we do not stand alone, in Exodus 14:13 we read, “Fear not; stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” So even if your knees are shaking, your mouth is dry, and you feel as though you are about to fall down, confront that fear. Fear cannot be wished away or hoped away, it must be confronted and dealt with through God’s Word. People may criticize, reject, and persecute you, but don’t allow them to intimidate you. Face the problem, the terror, and the uncertainty by faith.

• Concentration

What we concentrate on, where we place our focus will impact the battle. Will you chose to concentrate on the promises or the problems? The more you focus your eyes on the problem, the more fearful you become. Faith has a lot to do with focus, instead of fixing our eyes on the fear we need to focus on the Father. Your Provider promises to strengthen and sustain and He is able to handle anything you may face in this life. Fear wants to create doubt because doubt sees the obstacles where Faith sees the way, doubt sees the darkness where Faith sees the day. Fear is really an opportunity to trust even when our greatest fear is trusting God.

Psalm 25:1-5

1 O Lord, I give my life to you. 2 I trust in you, my God! Do not let me be disgraced, or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat. 3 No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others. 4 Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. 5 Guide me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.

The Journey of Faith is not a religious experience for the elite, but an open invitation for everyone to trust God. For those willing to trust Him faith becomes the foundation on which our lives are built as we travel down the road He reveals. But faith is only as good as its object; if we trust people, we get what people can do; if we trust money, we get what money can do. When we trust ourselves, we get what we can do and no more, but when we trust God, we get what God can do, and what can’t He do?

David chooses to put his faith and trust in God instead of people, he starts by saying “O Lord, I give my life to you, I trust in you, my God” Who or what we trust is a choice and even with his enemies after him and the pressure mounting, David’s trust is not in others, wealth or even himself. His prayer is a confession of choice not a plea of desperation because David’s decision is to trust God to guide his life. Many times we turn to God in times of crisis because we feel like we have no other choice and we have exhausted all other channels but that is not the heart of trust. At the heart of trust there is a choice that willfully submits control. Trusting God is not just believing that He has a plan but trusting Him to guide and direct us in that plan. There are many scriptures that make it clear that God wants to guide us in a relationship with Himself by helping us to live the lives He has called us to. He hasn’t called us into a relationship with Himself only to leave us in the dark about how that relationship should unfold. Proverbs 3:6 “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”

James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

Isaiah 58:11 “The Lord will guide you always.”  Isaiah goes on to describes life without God as being like living in a desert, in a “sun-scorched land”, but says that God’s guidance of His people means that they “will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”

There are many choices in the confusing twists and turns on the road of life but David understood that only a choice for God’s truth would clearly guide him. What will you choose; will you ask God to show you the right path? When he points out the road for you to follow will you trust in His direction? Because choosing to give our lives to God means submitting to and accepting His guidance. Guidance is a difficult word in our culture and rarely do we ever want to admit that we really need it because our fallen nature is in opposition to being guided. We are ok with a guide in extreme situations like a guide when in a foreign country or a guide dog for the blind. Yet for many we fail to see the gravity and the need for guidance as we embark on the journey of faith. There is a saying that a picture paints a thousand words but sometimes a word paints for us its own picture. As you take a closer look at the word “guidance” you will see the word “dance” at the end. Here is where the picture comes alive because God’s guidance in our lives is a lot like dancing. When 2 people try to lead it never works because the movement doesn’t flow with the music. Not only does everything become mechanical and uncomfortable but it also becomes painful when toes start getting stepped on. At this point we feel like it’s just easier to pull away from God, to stop embracing His guiding hand and walk away. Yet when one person releases without letting go and lets the other lead both begin to flow to the music. Guidance requires one giving subtle and gentle cues, a nudge or a little pressure lightly leaning in one direction or another. Instead of fighting for control the two become one, moving beautifully and almost effortlessly.  Dancing requires surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other. The word GUIDANCE ends with the word dance but it starts with the letter G for God and is followed closely by “u” and “i.” “God, “u” and “i” dance, Are you willing to let God lead? This is the heart of David’s prayer request in Psalm 25:4, for he is not just asking for God to point out which road to take so he can be on his way, his desire is to walk it with God. David’s statement of “I give my life to you” is a choice to do life with God to move according to His direction. What will be your choice, will you do life in motion with God?  When I was a little kid I loved pretending to drive my dad’s parked car and when you steer a parked car you don’t have to worry about which direction your heading because you are not really going anywhere. As I got older I realized that this life isn’t pretend, the truth is that we are all in motion and without His direction it’s just a matter of time before we wreck.

In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Those are not just words to parrot, they describe an attitude of the heart out of which we are to pray. We pray not to try and coerce God into conforming to our will but choosing to submit ourselves to His will because we trust He knows what is best for us. Following requires a willingness to trust His leading and fix our eyes on Him as He gently guides. He is the one who wrote the music and planned each step of the dance so He not only knows what He is doing but also where we are going. What about you are you ready to trust Him and let him guide you in the dance of faith?