Unshaken: How to Face Chaos and Danger without Fear

Jerusha: I’m excited to welcome author Stacey Weeks back to the Fear Warrior Blog! She’s offering a free digital copy of her newest book, Chasing Holiness, to one of you. Leave a comment below for your chance to win!

By Stacey Weeks

There was a morning quite a few years ago when my children were small that the wind picked up. Three nearby trees went down and every boom and crack sent the neighborhood running into their backyards to investigate.

I watched out my window as our giant maple swayed like a hula dancer at the mercy of the wind. I felt a bit like the third little pig waiting to see if the huffing and puffing would blow our tree down onto our house of bricks.

Our children were at school 1KM down the street, so after a few more booms and the power failing, I walked out front and looked toward the school. In the distance, I could see the flashing lights of emergency vehicles.

I couldn’t tell if they were at the school or just close to the school, so I decided to drive down the street and pick the kids up. It wasn’t like they would accomplish much in the classroom with the power out.

When I arrived, it was in chaos. Large pieces of the school roof had blown off the building. I rushed inside to find students sitting on the floor with their backs against the walls in darkened hallways.

The principle and teachers were in emergency mode, moving the children away from the windows and calling cell phones to try and locate parents. In some places in that building, it was intense, chaotic, and scary.

Then, I entered the primary ward, where my children were located. This hallway was for Jr. and Sr. Kindergarten classes, and grades one and two. The children lined the darkened hallway much like the older children did in the other wings of the school, but in this corridor, the children were aware of the storm but calmly playing quiet games.

They were not anxious because their eyes were not on the storm. Their eyes were on their protectors who were not projecting fear. The children took their cues from their teachers, who remained calm and in control.

When my children saw me, they immediately searched my face to read my expression. Was I alarmed? Was I afraid? In that moment, despite understanding that the rest of the roof could blow off any second, that we still had to drive home in the storm, and that God did not owe us any kind of special physical protection, I was not anxious.

I was not anxious because my eyes were not on the storm.

My eyes were on God – Who is sovereign over the storm.

God is my refuge and strength. He is my very-present help in trouble. We need not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea (Psalm 46:1-3).

Even if our tree fell down or that roof blew off or God allowed an unimaginable hardship, God was there, and He wasn’t leaving.

He would not fail us. My trust is in the Lord and is the Lord.

Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
—Jeremiah 17:5-8

What about you? As trees crash down around you, as illness takes you by surprise, as the money runs out, as you-fill-in-the-blank, are you shaken like the cursed man in Jeremiah 17:5-6?

Are you misplacing your hope in man-made solutions and ignoring the strength available in the Lord? Is fear causing your heart to turn away from the Lord?

No good comes from those choices. Those choices lead to the parched places of the wilderness, to an uninhabited salt land.

Chase the blessing explained in Jeremiah 17:7-8, and plant yourself near living water, sending roots deeply in God’s Word and in God’s character. Depend on Him for every need, believing He is good so that you, like the Proverbs 31 woman in verse 25, can laugh at the days to come because you fear nothing but the Lord.

The heat will come. The year of drought visits every soul. Those blessed by the Lord, trusting in Him and drawing life from His Word, continue to flourish. They are not anxious.

I don’t know about you, but a life free from anxiety sounds good to me. When circumstances hold the potential to shake your trees and rip the roof off your house, remember the object of your faith and the subject of your trust: The Lord.

Are you struggling with fear in the chaos of your life right now? Have you beaten anxiety through trust in God? Please share!

Photos by Mahkeo, Kiahna Mollette, and Johann Siemens on Unsplash. Original graphics designed by Jerusha Agen.

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Stacey Weeks is a ministry wife, mother of one teen and two tweens, and a sipper of hot tea with honey.

She loves to open the Word of God and share the hope of Christ with women. She is a multi-award-winning author, the primary home-educator of her children, and a frequent conference speaker. Her messages have been described as rich in the truths of Scripture, gospel-infused, and life-changing.

Stacey is currently working on a graduate certificate in women’s ministry with Heritage Bible College and Seminary.

Visit Stacey at her website and connect with her through her newsletter or on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

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Stacey is giving away one free digital copy of her nonfiction book, Chasing Holiness, to one of you! Simply leave a comment below to enter the giveaway! (Giveaway ends March 30, 2020.)

CHASING HOLINESS

The most important decision you will ever make is your decision to trust the Lord and trust in His provision made for you through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Your subsequent decisions to grow in your knowledge of God, prioritize your relationship with Him, and make His Word the foundation of your life are among the most important daily decisions you will make as a believer.

But sometimes we don’t know where to start. Stacey’s latest book, Chasing Holiness, is about finding out together.