RED — The Overflow Devo (Day 5 of 7)

RELEASE THE PANIC

Fear, Stress, Anxiety... these are a few of my least favorite things.

There is this story about a guy who plays a sport. It doesn't matter what the sport is. All that matters is that he has had one of the worst seasons in his career. At least to this guy, everything seems to be collapsing. Fans are really coming down on him and he himself is stressing with feelings of letting his team, family, and city down.

At this point, he begins to panic and he realizes that he is making things worse by doing so. The interesting part of this whole thing is that this athlete knows a God who loves him and has made a plan way before it has been executed. He knows that he ultimately has no control over the plan but only the ability that has been given to him.

We all know how this story ends in the movies. The athlete has a horrible year but when the championship is on the line, and the play must be made, he of course saves the day and gets the win. The fans believe in him once again, and his team is holding him on their shoulders off the field.

The reality is that we don't always feel like God answers our prayers. We pray for the turn around and sometimes it doesn't happen. Does that mean we stop having faith when we call on God?

No, and that is where we get things wrong. We often forget that God's plan is perfect even if sometimes the answer is "no." That is where we let fear, stress and anxiety creep in. We lose faith.

Faith allows us to be confident that God's plan always has us in His favor.

Deuteronomy 31:6 — "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."