Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could control most of the things that happen to you? If you could just shut the door to what troubles you or makes you afraid. If you could just shut that door, lock it, chain it closed, and walk away totally free.
Your mind runs nonstop. Mine does, too. The gasoline that fuels your mind, most of the time, is troubling thoughts. Fearful thoughts. The “what ifs” that keep you awake at night, that you think about in the shower each morning.
Lots of things may trouble you. Health issues. Family troubles. Job challenges. Finances. Politics. Deadlines. Marriage. Self esteem. Fear. Anger. Bitter thoughts. Thoughts of loneliness, of emptiness. You feel like, if this matter or that matter would change, you could be happy. Content. Restful.
Listen: I was the world champion of fear for many decades of my life. You name it, I was afraid of it. The dark. Dogs. Cats. Mice. Snakes. Strangers. Funeral homes. Dying. Storms. People’s opinions of me. Water. (By “water,” I mean I was even afraid if water from the showerhead ran down my face when I washed my hair. A deep fear of water.) Afraid to fall asleep. Afraid of sickness. Afraid of poverty. The thing is, fear is the rotten apple that continues to spoil all areas of your life.
The truth is, you have the key that shuts up all those voices in your mind and can finally set you free from the stress you’re under and the fear that haunts you.
You have the key. God gave it to you when you put your faith in Him and received Jesus as your Savior. The key is two words found in John 14:1.
Let not.
Let not your heart be troubled. That means you get to choose whether you are troubled or whether you are not. You just “let” or “let not.” You get to choose.
How? Jesus tells the “how,” too; in the same verse. Just believe in Him. Have faith in Him. You have faith in God, Jesus said. Then, He said just have faith “in Me” also. What empowers you to “let not” is simply believing in Jesus.
The key is to “let not”; but, the power to “let not” is to put your faith in Jesus.
Believing in His Word and in His love for You and in His faithfulness to You and to His Word. It’s saying, “I’m going to trust Your word, Jesus, that You will take care of me, that You will handle everything I worry about, everything that makes me afraid, everything I cannot fix on my own. I’m going to ‘let not’ and I’m going to ‘believe also’ in You.“
Jesus gave us the final piece of the puzzle in Matthew 6:31-34: Don’t take the thought, and don’t say the thought. He said seek His kingdom ways and His righteousness rather than your own or someone else’s righteousness to meet your need. And, when you do that, all those things that concern you – that you turned over to Jesus’ righteousness to handle – all those things will be added to you.
“Let not” the thought. As soon as it comes to the surface, just cast it on Jesus in faith. And then lock the door.
Lock the door with “Let not.” Chain it closed with “Believe also in Me.” Stay free with “Don’t take the thought.”
When I began to “believe also” in Jesus, the things I feared and that troubled me began to fall off. And, I knew it was safe to “let not.”
I want to encourage you to allow your faith to take the “let not” leap and to close the door once and for all to all that troubles you. Take the italicized prayer above and speak that prayer every time you feel troubled. And then, believe in God, and let yourself “let not.” It may be hard at first. Overwhelming at first. But, the more you pray that prayer and the more you believe in Jesus, you’ll find that your key is actually working.
The Real Deb 