“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered King Nuuchadnezzar, “Your threats mean nothing to us. If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us fro your roaring fire and anything else you might cook up, O King.” (Daniel 3:16-17 MSG)
A student came to me yesterday, very brave in new relationship with a just-arrived youth pastor. “I struggle with anxiety. I used to do better with it but now I don’t. I used to come to church more but now I don’t. And the anxiety is back.” It took two seconds to connect the dots; only because I have finally begun to recognize it in the pages of my own story. Proximity to our Creator clears up anxiety. We move away, anxiety moves in. We move close, anxiety moves out.
We see it clearly in this famous account of three guys and a fiery furnace; “Your threats mean nothing to us.” Somehow, even in a foreign land, these believers had learned to live in perfect love. The threats of the enemy fell off them. They knew their God could save them and even if He didn’t, He was still good. It seems that these three fully believed that death would not be the end of their story, that their enemy could do his worst but God would always have the final word.
“Well-formed love banishes fear.” (1 John 4:18 MSG)
So if fear is pulling the strings today, move a little closer to the Creator. The simplest way to stir our hearts toward Him is through worship. Begin to praise and adore Him. Consider who He is and how He’s kept the world in motion since day one. Recall His efforts to save humanity, how He sent His only son to the cross for our sin. Hone in on your own story: identify His past performance record in you days and years. Picture yourself pulling up a chair in His throne room, invited into the personal space of the Most High God. Realize also, that the reverse is true; Holy Spirit dwells in the inner chambers of your soul, too. Let all this truth move you toward Him, toward the place where fear flees and love has the final say.
Lord, live in us and us in You. Let perfect love push fear far from our story. You are good and we trust in You. Amen.