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Q. What do you do when fears make you tense?

A. One morning I awoke with a big problem on my mind, my stomach knotted with fear. Then, as I've done daily for years, I repeated Jeremiah's affirmation of God's faithfulness in Lamentations 3:22-24.

I lay in bed going over what might happen. However bad it might be, I knew from experience that the Lord would use it. So I began to praise Him for what I was going to learn through the problem. Only then did the fear subside. I felt new strength to get up and tackle the problem.

All through the day, as I faced the problem head-on, I kept praying, "Lord, what are You trying to teach me in this? What good do You want to bring out of it?" The Lord not only helped me find a solution but used what I had been through to help a friend.

How did that happen?

That evening I had dinner with Jason, who confided that he often woke at four A.M. for his "worry time." I shared with him my experience that very day. "Why don't we covenant to pray for each other," I said, "that when a problem wakes us up, we'll give it to the Lord and spend our time praying about the best He could bring out of it rather than the worst we can imagine. Then let's claim the vision He gives us and thank Him that He'll work it all out in His timing and way."

Months later, Jason told me, "I think the Lord has pulled off a miracle. The other day I realized that my feelings of dread about the future are completely gone!"

Lloyd Ogilvie until recently served as chaplain to the U.S. Senate.

Adapted from Facing the Future Without Fear (Servant, 1999, 2002) by permission.

Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Dear Father, teach me to hand off my worries to You, realizing that I'm secure in Your care.

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