Afraid of All the Things: Tornadoes, Cancer, Adoption, and Other Stuff you Need the Gospel For

by Scarlet Hiltibidal

The gospel tells me I can’t fix myself. The gospel tells me I can’t protect myself. But the gospel tells me I can rest, knowing that Jesus walked into this broken, sad, scary place to rescue me and love me and cast out my fear. And He did and He does and He will. Calm is found in the already finished work of Christ.

The thing about anxiously wired people though, is that our minds can twist everything—even comfort, even Truth—into something else to be afraid of.

His promise was His presence. And His presence brings peace. God’s presence brings peace, but it is so easy to read the events of our lives like they are a message from God saying, “I CAN’T EVEN BELIEVE HOW MUCH YOU ARE THE WORST.”

My fears, my failures, my phases, real and imagined and everything in between, do not get to say who I am. They can’t. Because Jesus already did. He rose from the dead with new names for me. Forgiven. Approved. Loved. Daughter. Heir. Friend.

If your identity revolves around a job, or a person, or what your body looks like, or anything other than Jesus, you will continue to live burdened; and you will ultimately compound your fear.

Anxiety stems from a lack of faith in our heavenly Father, as unbelief gets the upper hand in our hearts. Much anxiety, Jesus says, comes from little faith.”

For me, so much of learning to be like Christ has happened simply by being a recipient of love—getting to experience the gift of others sacrificing for me and my well-being.