“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” – Psalm 56:3 (ESV)
Did you notice the word “when?” David doesn’t say “if” he is afraid, and he doesn’t pretend he never is. He wrote this Psalm after the Philistines seized him in Gath, the hometown of Goliath, whose sword he was carrying. A fugitive in enemy territory has good reason to be afraid. But his faith didn’t deny his fear; it gave the fear somewhere to go. He placed his trust in God!
That is the first truth of this three-part series: faith and fear are not opposites that take turns. They often share the same room. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is trust that keeps walking while fear is still talking.
I know this from experience. I was born in Guyana and left in the late 1990s. I spent twenty-one years in Albania, then seven years in Finland, pastoring and working with young people in Oulu. Now I serve with YWAM in Scotland. Some seasons brought loneliness, disappointment, and uncertainty, making it anything but easy to trust God.
What I learned in every country is that no place is free of fear. It simply learns a new accent.
What changed me was never becoming fearless. It was learning where to take my fear. David’s prayer is honest and practical: fear will come, and trust in God is the response.
In the next two parts, we’ll look at what happens when the storm is real, and Jesus seems silent, and what it means to anchor a life when the world offers no security. For today, simply admit that you are afraid of something. Say so to God. Then take one small step of trust while the fear is still in the room, and watch what He can do.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I won’t pretend I’m unafraid. You already know what keeps me awake. Today I choose trust, not because the fear is gone, but because You are here. Teach me to bring every fear to You and to take one faithful step while it still speaks. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Read: Psalm 34:4; Isaiah 41:10
Bible Reading Guide: Psalm 124; Hebrews 11:17-40; Ezekiel 24; Ezekiel 25