(September 30, 2023) Robert and Maureen McQuillan challenge…

It’s great to learn that many folk have moved on from the darkness that began hitting the world a few years ago (and still around)! People are joyfully holidaying, planning ahead, contemplating the future wisely and making decisions in respect of the like of travelling, jobs, careers, homes, suburbs, states, vehicles (electric, petrol or hybrid), schooling, churches, marriage…

One top decision is a major change of thinking – from fear to courage… ‘Flipping the Switch’ to use an old phrase, the sense of having a change of heart about many things.

We Christians can praise God for so much… salvation through His son, Jesus. And the gift of life – new life in Him. We have so much to look forward each new day because of Jesus…  God is our protector, provider and friend. It’s always great to zero in on prayer each morning, Bible reading, worshipping Him and committing the new day to our Lord.

Fearfulness
But… life is life and things can go wrong!

Sometimes life throws such out-of-the-blue nasty curves, causing even the strongest, faith-believing Christian to be really jolted, even feeling fearful, alone at times. We might even find ourselves querying our faith – stalling in our ministry calling and wondering about a lot of things. Negative questions arise such as ‘What happened? What did I do wrong? Why this, God? Why me when I’m loyally following you?’

Have you felt fear hitting you in the pit of your stomach? It’s a truly soul-destroying experience that can throw any of us off centre. We need to stand strong and continually trusting our God! Fear is one of Satan’s tricks – but whether he instigates it or it came about as a result of something going terribly wrong in life, it can grip us. Many times when praying for people at the altar, the Holy Spirit revealed that fear is the root of many problems, even certain sicknesses.

It’s good to hear Christians, even troubled ones, firmly proclaiming that despite whatever is wrong in their lives (or the world) that ‘The Lord is in control, in charge!’ Their faith in God is strong.

However… recently we’ve come across some Christians criticising this affirmation! They claim that this is foolishness… it’s glibly sitting back and doing nothing, a false expectation that God will somehow put things right, maybe send an angel to work some miracle, and all we have to do is relax.

No, wise God-believing Christians don’t sit back and do nothing! We do the following –

• As mentioned above, stand firm and continue trusting Him.
• Believe and claim our Lord to be Almighty God, knowing He can work wonders.
• Continue developing our relationship with Him, reaffirming our trust in His Holy Spirit.
• Accept that His timing is important, as is how He chooses to intervene on our behalf!
• Understand that sometimes God has a plan different from our wishes and hopes.
• Recall with thankful hearts all that He’s already done, encouraged that He can do more.
• Above all we do not yield to doubts and fears! Our faith accepts whatever challenge comes along!

Of course these seven ‘rocks to firmly stand on’ are proclaimed on the understanding that we Christians have built our house – our life, our faith, our trust on the Rock, Jesus Christ, as intimated in Matthew 7:24-27, Romans 9:33, 1 Corinthians 10:4 and 1 Peter 2:8! And are willing to do whatever He asks of us in the progress of our prayers being answered.

Fear
You’ll find fear in both Bible testaments. One New Testament Greek word is fob-eh’-o, meaning to be frightened, alarmed, afraid. Luke 21:26, for example, is translated: ‘People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world.’

Yes, even when we’re strongly trusting our Lord, things can go wrong, upset us (I, Robert, have had some out-of-the-blue shakings recently! My trust and hope is still strong in God as is Maureen’s). Let’s all focus on these five thoughts…

1) Fear wasn’t unknown even to Bible characters! Fear is repeatedly found in scripture, around 400 verses, from Genesis to Revelation.
2) And it’s great that we can find so many scriptures encouraging us not to be afraid!
3) Israel’s new leader Joshua is a good example. His new challenge in life was the momentous task of following on from Moses. God’s encouraging advice to him of ‘Fear not, neither be dismayed’ (Joshua 8:1) is also a timely word for many Christians today.
4) Jesus Himself encouraged us in John 14:1, ’Do not let your hearts be troubled.’ GNB reads, ‘ Do not be worried and upset.’ GJB: ‘Don’t let yourselves be disturbed.’
5) It’s been said that scripture challenges us not to fear any day!

Regarding Jesus’ John 14 promise; ‘heart’ is kardia, referring to thoughts and feelings, and ‘troubled’ is tarassa … agitated.

Been feeling agitated not getting answers to some matters? Alas, there are troubled times in life – even church life – when things go wrong and we feel torn inside, so alone and that no one understands. Fear creeps in and overwhelms! We can feel alone, abandoned, bereft… experiencing a scary, troubling time. Be bold – trust the Lord, be determined to win through.

The Message Bible cheerfully puts John 14:1 this way: ‘Don’t let this throw you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me.’

Our caring Lord also said this in verse 27 ‘So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught’ (John 14:27Mge). Other versions say something along the lines of ‘Don’t let your hearts be troubled and don’t be afraid.’ God’s Word version says, ‘I’m leaving you peace. I’m giving you my peace. I don’t give you the kind of peace that the world gives. So don’t be troubled or cowardly.’ 

Flip-switch!
Trusting God with all our heart at such times means flipping the switch from negative thoughts to positive ones! So, dear reader, if you’re troubled… boldly flip the switch!

We need to be possibility thinkers, whatever challenges we have in life! Dr Robert Schuller was known for his description of Jesus – ‘The greatest possibility thinker ever.’ Followers of Jesus must be like our greatest example and follow His examples. Jesus never let anything throw him – He trusted His heavenly Father completely, in life itself, even in His darkest hours in Gethsemane, and when dying on the cross.

• Life: ‘I can do nothing on my own… I seek not my own will but the will of Him who sent me (John 5:30ESV).
• Gethsemane: ‘Again He prayed, ‘My Father, if there is no other way than this, drinking this cup to the dregs, I’m ready. Do it your way”’ (Matthew 26:42 Mge).
• Calvary: ‘Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words He breathed His last’ (Luke 23:46 NLT).

Trusting, entrusting, believing… such words come from pisteuo – to have faith in and commit to with respect. There’s a great thought… respecting God in that He is almighty (all powerful) and can make things happen.

One time Jesus made exercising faith sound so simple: His disciples were wondering why they couldn’t cause something miraculous to happen. In scripture problems are often regarded as mountains, something that needs dealing with. Jesus gave it to them straight: ‘Because you’re not yet taking God seriously. The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, “Move!” and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn’t be able to tackle’ (Matthew 17:20 Mge).

A mustard seed! That’s pretty small – but the reality remains… we just have to decide that we will, no matter what, no matter how big the problem, take God seriously, respect Him and His word – and believe that He has the answers and ability to bring us through.

Conquering problems, challenges and such by trusting God, and our great rescuer, Jesus, indicates we overcome by defeating. Revelation 12:11Mge boldly claims that Christians will overcome the great enemy himself – ‘They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb and the bold word of their witness. They weren’t in love with themselves; they were willing to die for Christ.’     

Defeat is nikao... to prevail, overcome, subdue, conquer, get the victory. Good News Bible translates this verse as ‘victory’ and NIV says ‘triumph.’ Whichever word is used it’s clearly good news to hurting hearts!

We, God’s redeemed children, can claim this victory over many obstacles. But we must act! (Our role in proclaiming that God is in charge, control). If we don’t, we’ll never be conquerors.

Feature
May we feature the all-important positive trio of keys in our daily life…
1. Trusting positively
2. Testifying positively
3. Thinking positively.

When trouble hits us, we must always remember to flip the switch and …

• Claim afresh the blood of Jesus and its power, shed at Calvary for us.
• Capture very opportunity to declare we’re believing for victory through Jesus.
• Concentrate not on our current problems but on Jesus and all He offers us.

Romans 8:11 assures us that we can be victors, overcomers, in all distressing times – ‘No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.’ The Message puts it clearly: ‘None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us.’

Note: It is our decision… we have to be active. We must decide to have a change of heart, correct our attitude and outlook on things, clear our mind of destructive thoughts and feelings. The Holy Spirit within will help us of course but we have our role to play. The good news is that it works – even if some time goes by!

May we fully trust our Almighty God and His word… flip the switch on whatever negative fears hit us and move ahead positively!

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Dr Robert and Pr Maureen McQuillan’s links: OnlinerConnect@gmail.com and Facebook _______________________________________________