When I was a kid, I watched a movie where a driver made a mistake and got into a fatal car accident. It was a quite traumatic moment that I came to be afraid of riding in a car. I was nervous if a driver would make a crucial mistake and worried about getting into an accident, just like the driver in the movie.
Although I do not remember how long I had had this fear, I remember how I could be free from it. Though I was a kid, I asked myself why I came to have this fear and soon noticed that I could not trust enough those who drive for me. I wanted to change myself. So, with great determination, I prayed to God and kept practicing to trust every driver. Later, I noticed that the fear that followed me in a car disappeared at once.
We hear from Isaiah that God guides us continually and satisfies our needs in parched places. Making this beautiful promise, God tells us that He takes care of us so that we do not have to fear, no matter how challenging our parched places of life might be. But, because we do not trust the Lord enough, we often find ourselves dwelling in fear.
Lent is a good season for us to grow spiritually. It is a great time to practice and encourage one another to “[t]rust in the Lord with all [our] heart and [to] lean not on [our] own understanding.” I hope that, as we trust the Lord and His Word, we all be delivered from fear to freedom in His guiding and providing hands.
Prayer
Gracious Father, Help us to trust in You fully so that we can let go of our fear and let You be in us.
Rev. Sunny Limm is the pastor at Trinity UMC in Kinston