'This Won't Hurt a Bit'
Theme of the Week: Give God Your Fears
Thursday, November 6, 2003
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Key Bible Verse: But when I am afraid, I put my trust in you (Psalm 56:3). Bonus Reading:Isaiah 8:11-13
What makes us dread the dental hot seat? Fear of pain and discomfort, brought on by seeing a man in a white outfit with a needle behind his back and that "I'm gonna gitcha" look in his eye. Such trauma calls for an equally powerful antidote.
It's trust—reliance on character, skill, and competence. It's having confidence that he knows what he's doing. You don't want some clown jabbing you in the jaw who has to consult a do-it-yourself-dentistry handbook while you're getting numb. You also know you're in for trouble if he comes at you as clumsy as a Sherman tank.
The same is true in everyday life. Today you could be in an accident on the freeway, fired from the job, the victim of a personal attack, mistreated, robbed, slandered, or threatened with a lawsuit. How do you get rid of fear? The same way you stay in the dentist's chair—you trust. You consciously and willfully abandon yourself to Someone who's totally trustworthy. God cares. He's reliable. He isn't clumsy. Or unskilled. Or out to get me. Or only working part-time. When He says, "This won't hurt a bit, trust me," He means it.
—Charles Swindoll in Come Before Winter
My Response: A time when I trusted God in a scary situation was …
Thought to Apply: There is never a fear that has not a corresponding "Fear not."
—Amy Carmichael (Irish missionary to India)
Adapted from Come Before Winter (Multnomah, 1985) by permission.
Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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Dear Father, teach me to hand off my worries to You, realizing that I'm secure in Your care.
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