Our Fears can Sting
Our fears can sting!
Listen to this verse from Genesis 6:9 (NLT): “Noah consistently followed God’s will and enjoyed a close relationship with him.”
Do you long to walk in a close, tender, current, daily walk with God?
One of the greatest thrills of my life, when my three children were young, was coming home, opening the door, and seeing Katelyn, Alec, and Jessie running towards me for a hug. Daddy was home. That was 30 years ago. Now, only my dogs come running when I open the front door. And sometimes, they’re not too friendly.
We make God smile when we come running to love and trust Him. Noah trusted God completely. His faith was incredible: he built a ship based on a conversation he had with God. Read Hebrews 11:7 (MSG): “By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land...As a result, Noah became intimate with God.”
Am I saying, build a boat and you’ll be closer to God? Not likely. But, I am suggesting that trust has something to do with intimacy.
As a toddler, my son Alec struggled at bath time. He found it difficult to completely trust me. He hated water poured over his head and feeling the water stream across his face. I would tell Alec to put his head right back so I could pour the shampoo on, lather it up, and pour water to remove it. But, no matter how often he tried to trust his daddy, eventually, he would tip his head up and the soapy water would cascade into his eyes. The shampoo would sting his eyes and make bath time a misery.
His fear always seemed to overcome his trust. Our fears can sting. They can momentarily blind us from seeing the truth of God’s constant faithfulness in our lives.
To trust God is to believe that God knows what’s best for you, and trust has so much to do with opening the door to a loving, tender, and intimate relationship with God.