Who Do You Trust? Defeating Your Fear with Unshakable Confidence

The box flew out of my hands and landed on the floor about a foot and a half from Prince Pluffy.

Despite his auspicious name, Prince Pluffy is not a cat of awesome bravery, but he’s not overly cautious either. In general, his fear levels lie somewhere in the middle of average for the feline set.

But in recent days, when my mom had accidentally dropped some things in Prince Pluffy’s presence on separate occasions, he’d launched into panic mode and fled the room at fast as his fluffy paws could fly.

I expected a similar reaction when my fingers inexplicably juggled the empty tissue box and it catapulted near my unsuspecting cat.

But he didn’t run. He barely even flinched. Instead, he promptly approached the box to check it out as if flying tissue boxes were an everyday, yet still entertaining occurrence.

I laughed and shook my head at the idiosyncrasies of cats, but it didn’t take me long to realize why he’d reacted calmly in this case. Because he knew I had dropped the box.

Though my mom is a loving soul who’s worked to befriend Prince Pluffy, he’s only gradually coming around to trusting her more. I, on the other hand, have had his full trust for several years now, almost since I adopted him.

So when my mom drops an object or walks a little faster than normal, it’s terror city.

But when I nearly bean Prince Pluffy with a tissue box, he has no fear. He’s confident that I never meant to hurt him, and he’s confident that whatever I do next, I will do out of love and for his good.

This is the difference trust in the right person (or thing) makes. You and I have the best reason in the world to be fearless—we have a Person we can trust infallibly. He will never do anything accidentally, but will always be in complete control.

We can have confidence, more than my cat should have confidence in me, that anything He does in our lives, even when it looks bad, He will do out of love and for our good.

That Person is Jesus Christ. But He doesn’t just say, “believe in me,” without showing us why we should. He proved why we should on the cross and in His resurrection.

And even one quick look at Jesus shows how we can defeat all our fears with unshakable confidence.

TRUST

Jesus made so many wonderful promises during His earthly life, and there are so many more promises for us in all of Scripture. I admit, I sometimes doubt whether all these promises will hold true—especially the ones that are promised for eternity.

Eternity is a long time. Will God really never change His mind about our fate? Will He really never grow tired of us and want to move on to something else? Will we really be with Jesus forever?

But such doubts are defeated if we look at the cross. Jesus would never have voluntarily undergone such suffering, including separation from God the Father—a torture we cannot comprehend—for nothing. And God the Father would never have sacrificed His one and only Son to redeem us, only to change His mind later on.

Too much was sacrificed, too much was bought and paid for, too much was accomplished on the cross for us to think Jesus unworthy of our trust.

He proved on the cross that He’s worthy of nothing less than our complete confidence.

POWER

But how do we know Jesus is capable of making good on His awesome promises? He makes promises like being in control of every detail of our lives, ordaining the plan of our lives, giving us victory over death, providing eternal joy and rest with Him. Can He keep these promises, even if He wants to?

Never mind the awesome fact that Jesus created all things (Col. 1:16)—all we have to do is look at the cross and resurrection. Yes, Jesus can look like a victim on the cross, but the truth is He showed His mighty power even while hanging there.

We see His power to pardon from sin in His words to the thief who hung beside Him. We see His power to forgive even those who tortured and murdered Him (Luke 23:34).

And even in His death, we see His matchless power over the earthly and spiritual realms, through the tearing of the temple curtain, earthquake, and resurrection of many saints (Matt. 27:51-53).

If that isn’t enough to convince us of His power, we have only to look at what came after His death.

He arose. From the dead. And He is risen, indeed.

Enough said.

LOVE

If you’re like me, you might still find reason to lean toward fear instead of confidence, even though we know Jesus is trustworthy and powerful.

I drop things just as much as other people in my family, but Prince Pluffy still trusts me more. Why? Because he knows I love him. He knows I never intend to harm him and that I always have his good in mind. He knows I love him because I’ve proven it over time, with my loving actions.

Jesus has done the same, throughout every moment of our lives, right down to the tiny details we overlook and don’t even recognize as demonstrations of love.

But what we should never overlook is the shouting, blaring, in-your-face display of the greatest act of love. EVER.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16

God the Father showed His love for us by giving up His Son for our salvation.

…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8

Jesus Christ demonstrated that He loves us by volunteering to set aside His God-ness, become our sin, be separated from His Father, experience the greatest suffering that anyone ever will, die, and go to hell for us.

We were still sinners then. We were His enemies, separated by our love of sin and rejection of Him.

Yet, He still paid that horrific penalty that should have been ours, because He loves us.

Jesus is one hundred percent trustworthy. He has unfathomable power. He loves us with a proven love.

Keep your eyes on this Jesus on the cross, marching out of the tomb, and triumphantly rising to the heavens.

Your fears will be obliterated in the radiant light of Who He is.

But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” – Matthew 14:27

Do you trust Jesus or are you trusting in someone or something else? How does looking at Jesus fill you with confidence instead of fear? Please share!

Select photos by Ehimetalor Unuabona and Erika Goodthing on Unsplash. Original graphics designed by Jerusha Agen.