Think On These Things

The pandemic took the country by storm. First we learned that the virus was in our country, and in no time, the conveniences we took for granted every day were withdrawn. Toilet paper disappeared from the shelves. The president was on TV asking us to keep a distance of six feet from any human being when we were in public. Churches and businesses closed their doors or went online.

What is the initial reaction? Fear. Nothing like this has ever happened to us in our lifetime, and fear seizes us. Fear can be a terrible thing, can it not? It seems the more we try not to be fearful, the more fearful we become.

Most of us can remember being taught in school the famous words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt when he addressed the nation by radio, shortly after the dawn of the great depression of the 1930’s. “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself,” he said, and his words have echoed down to us though the decades.

Fear is destructive. Fear makes us do irrational things. Fear can cause us to make bad decisions. Fear can keep us awake at night, and stretch our emotions to the max.

So what can we do about fear?

The first thing we can do is turn to the Bible. The Bible is full of God’s promises telling us not to fear.

Why? The Creator of the universe tells us that if we have placed our trust in Him, we don’t have to fear, because as a loving Father, He will take care of us.

When one of our little children has an accident, bangs a delicate little finger, drawing blood, and begins to scream in pain, what is the first thing we do? We rush to the scene of the accident, scoop the child up in our arms and gently rock him, making soothing sounds in his ear.

It’s okay,” we say, “Mommy will fix it.” And we quickly go to work, cleaning the wound, applying the appropriate medicine, and rocking the child until his fears subside.

So . . . don’t you think God does the same thing to you when you are hurting? Of course He does! He cares for you more than you care for your child, because He is God, and His love is far deeper and stronger than the love you have for your child.

When life is relatively easy and we cruise along enjoying the enormous amount of comfort we have in America, then we take life for granted. When some of those conveniences are taken away, hopefully then, we really realize how abundantly we are blessed.

A few years ago, my friend Steve was suddenly afflicted with bell palsy. He lost control of the muscles in the right side of his face and his right hand suddenly did not take signals from his brain in the proper manner. The thing is, that Steve is an artist, and what would happen if he no longer had control of his right hand, the one that wielded the brush?

The first thing Steve did was to sit down at the kitchen table and make a list of all of the blessings God had poured out upon him. Then he went down the list and thanked God for each one.

When fear comes upon us, the first thing we should do is develop a thankful attitude. Why? Because it is the right thing to do. We should thank God for the wonderful things He gives us. We should do it as a lifestyle.

Colossians 3:15 says,

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,

since as members of one body you were called to peace.

And be thankful.” (NIV)

So, we are to be thankful. There is a side benefit to being thankful. When we are thankful, we fill our thoughts with positive things. It is difficult to thank God for specific things He has given us, and be filled with fear at the same time.

It is important to give thanks to God out loud, because our mouth has creative power, and what our ears hear our mouth say, our heart believes. So by giving thanks to God out loud, we are filling our heart with the positive, which will help drive out the negative . . . namely fear.

Steve eventually recovered from bell palsy and was able to paint again. In the process he learned about the benefits of being thankful.

A wonderful verse along these same lines is Philippians 4:8 (ESV):

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Joshua 1:8 takes it a step further. It says to “meditate on these things.” The meaning of the word, “meditate” is the picture of a cow chewing its cud. It chews it’s cud, swallows it, and then later brings it up and chews some more. This process is repeated many times. So take Philippians 4:8 to heart and practice it. The things listed in the verse that you can identify in your life, these things bring to mind repeatedly through the day and “think about them,” or “chew on them.”

The end of this process is that if you fill your mind with thankfulness and think on positive things, there will be no room for fear.

. . . And that is how you defeat fear.

 

Photo taken by Lorraine