Facing My Fears

After writing the title to this post my youngest brother runs by and asks, "You have fears?"... evidently I've done a better job of keeping them to myself than I had thought.
Well- yes, I have fears. In fact, I have many fears. I've held onto them, kept them to myself, and denied them. But they are there and they are not mine to bear.
Today I was reading Girl Talk and getting caught up with the blog and I came across some old posts that stuck out to me. My biggest fears are things that I don't know or understand- like the future, strangers, and dark water. They are the types of things I should be trusting God about- things that worry me and really shouldn't at all!
So, here are the blog posts from Girl Talk- and I hope I can take it all to heart and trust God for everything- even when I feel that I have reasons for being fearful. Because God trumps all of those reasons.

Learning to Trust
"Recently, I heard a story about a woman who was gripped by fear in the middle of a dangerous storm. She got on her knees and asked God to help her trust Him, and instantly her fears vanished. She got up from her knees, got into bed, and fell asleep. Just like that.
"I wish that would happen to me more often!" I thought. But I don't usually feel less fearful the instant I pray or read Scripture. And then I worry that I'm doing something wrong or (mistakenly) assume that God's solution for anxiety "isn't working."
But my fearful feelings don't mean that God hasn't answered my prayers. Instead, as Elisabeth Elliot explains, "[God] wants us to learn to use our weapons."
He wants me to learn to persevere in prayer, he wants me to form habits of casting cares (1 Pet. 5:7) and befriending faithfulness (Ps. 37:3). He wants me to become proficient at speaking truth to myself. He wants me to learn to trust Him, even when I don't feel like it.
So if you think God has abandoned you in your fight against fear, think again. The ongoing fight isn't a sign that He's forgotten you, but that He's teaching you to trust. "
A Good Laugh
"In addition to tuning out our fears and turning up the volume on truth, we must fight fear with laughter. Sound ridiculous, even a little irreverent?
Irreverence is precisely the point. We must not dignify our fears--sin-generated, false predictions of a graceless and God-less future--by giving them the attention and obedience due only to God and His Word. Laughing at our fears is entirely appropriate, because up against God's promises they not only look, but actually are, ridiculous.
The Proverbs 31 woman doesn't take herself, or her fears, too seriously: 'She laughs at the future in contrast with being worried or fearful about it' (ESV Study Bible note, Pr. 31:25). This may sound flippant or naive if we don't already know her to be a woman of diligence, wisdom, and strength. She trusts God, and so she laughs.
'One of Satan’s great lies is that God—and goodness—is joyless and humorless,' explains Randy Alcorn:
'In fact, it’s Satan who’s humorless. Sin didn’t bring him joy; it forever stripped him of joy. In contrast, envision Jesus with his disciples. If you cannot picture Jesus teasing them and laughing with them, you need to reevaluate your theology of Creation and Incarnation. We need a biblical theology of humor that prepares us for an eternity of celebration, spontaneous laughter, and overflowing joy.'
Laughter, not fear-filled wonderings, will properly prepare us for our future: our immediate future and our eternal future full of celebration and overflowing joy. So thank God for His promises today and 'laugh at the days to come.'"