How can I be afraid?

The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident. - Psalm 27:1-3

There seems to be an awful lot to be afraid of today. Politics, the economy, terrorism, crime, and corruption are all rampant. The future is scary. If we stop and think about it too much I think most of us would be terrified apart from one thing.

That one thing is what David clung to. He knew he need not be afraid because the Lord was the strength of his life. That’s a really good thing to remember because if I were the strength of my life I would surely be defeated because I am nothing but weakness.

If I could truly trust that the Lord was the strength of my life how could I possibly be afraid? When my children were little they never worried about food being on the table or bills getting paid or any of those kinds of things. They trusted me to take care of those things and didn’t worry.

And yet, even after all these years, I go through spells when fear can almost overwhelm me. Sure, I don’t like to call it fear. I call it worry or even fretting, but those are just nice words for fear.

But how can I fear if I really believe that God is who he says he is? I don’t face the same kind of military enemies that David did and still worry sets in. When we worry, and I hope I am not the only one, we really aren’t trusting the God who we claim is Father.

Lord, I need the faith to say that no matter what comes my way, I will be able to say with David ‘My heart will not fear…in this I will be confident.’

I do believe Lord, help my unbelief.