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Jun 05, 2023 18:30pm

Lay Down Your Fears and Worries

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It’s the thing that causes your heart to start racing.

Thud, thud, thud.

You can hear it pounding in your ears.

Your breathing starts to quicken and you take long, hard breaths through your nose trying to slow it down.

Beads of sweat begin to form on the back of your neck and your forehead.

You can feel your throat tighten, making it feel like it’s hard to swallow.

Tears prick your eyes and you clench them shut trying to hold back the flow from starting.

I‘m not talking about a heart attack or severe allergic reaction. This is different.

This is what fear will do to you.

There are moments when worry seems to take over and your mind races with fears of the future.

“What if this happens? What if I lose the person I love most? What if this test result doesn’t come out clear? What if…”

I will run 50 different scenarios through my head, thinking of all the factors of a situation, the ramifications, the consequences, the responses, the potential emotions… all of it.

It’s almost as if life is spiraling out of control. And it all started with one little worry.

Mary, the young virgin, has just been visited by Gabriel, an angel of the Lord. He told her she had found favor with God and would have a son and his name would be Jesus.

“He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
Luke 1:32-33

Can you imagine being this young girl hearing this news? It was a moment that completely changed her life! She could not fathom how truly incredible this was or what it would mean to you and me today, but her son Jesus would be the One thing we all needed.

Mary asked the question that, honestly, I think we would all ask and wonder about. How?

“Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?”
Luke 1:34

Let’s stop for just a second and really look at what’s happening here. Mary was a virgin. She had never been with a man. She knew that was the only way a child could be brought into this world. So, how would this happen? And what would that mean for her? And let’s not forget her culture in this moment either.

She was espoused to Joseph which meant she was engaged to be married. But they were not actually married yet. And would Joseph marry her still? If she were to have a child without being married, she would be cast out of society. Women in that situation who had no way to provide for themselves would have to turn to immoral acts for money just to survive.

At that moment, those feelings we just described could have taken over Mary. She could have given into fear. She could have allowed her emotions to spiral out of control and refused to ruin her reputation and standing.

But she didn’t.

“Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.”
Luke 1:38

Knowing everything that could happen, she chose to focus on the good.

Too often we want to throw out everything we do know and trade it for fears and worries of what we don’t know.

Whatever you are going through, I want you to know, God is listening. He cares, He loves you deeply and He wants to help. You may think it’s far too great for Him to handle, but as Luke 1:37 tells us, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

What is it that you need to bring before the Lord? What fears and worries do you need to lay at His feet in surrender? I pray you’ll do that today.