Face Your Fears: Trusting in the God who Protects

​Are you afraid of snakes? I used to be. But something’s changed. I’ve changed. I was helping my daughter move a blueberry bush this week. Hiding in the roots was a snake. Granted, it was small, but still—a slithery snake.
 
Normally it would cause me to run for the hills...

...but I had a mission to move that berry bush. Nothing was going to stop me. I ignored the snake and got the job done.
 
That’s when I realized it. That’s when I knew something had changed in me. A new courage, perhaps? Or even more, a new trust in my God who protects me.
 
The apostle Paul had a run-in with a snake. Shipwrecked on the island of Malta, he was gathering sticks to make a fire when a poisonous viper latched onto his hand. The natives watched—waiting for him to swell up and die. But Paul shook the thing off, unharmed and unphased, undeterred from his mission. (Acts 28:1-6)
 
The world can be a scary place. Ever since Adam and Eve caved in the Garden of Eden, the serpent has been slithering through the earth, looking to see who he can harm, who he can devour. Destroying lives as he deceives them into believing a lie about who God is and who He has created them to be.
 
“‘I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.’” Luke 10:19 NIV
 
Jesus overcame the world and all within it and transferred that overcoming authority to His believers. He’s given us authority and with it, He’s given us a mandate, a mission.
 
“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15
 
Go. The opposite of stay. Go to your neighbors, go to the world. Carry God’s message and heal the sick, raise the dead. “Freely you have received; freely give” (Matthew 10:8.) Preach the good news that Christ has come to save you from the world and the deceptions of the enemy.
 
Throughout the Bible, there is a recurring theme of God’s protection. Daniel in the lion’s den, the Israelites at the Red Sea, Joseph in the well, Paul and Silas in jail. All kept safe, all protected by the mighty hand of God.
 
You have a mission on this earth. Don’t be afraid. Trust God to keep you safe.
 
“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” Psalm 32:7