Written by Tanner Stone
If you were to come up to me and ask me what I am struggling with right now, my answer would be “fear.” I’m afraid of many things in this current time of my life. Because for me, being a senior in college, there are a lot of unknowns. I don’t know where I’ll be this time next year, I don’t know if I’ll be able to provide for myself, I don’t know how I’m even going to graduate on time. The list could go on. And I find that fear manifests itself in many different ways. It could be as I just described, this fear of the unknown. Or, it could even be fear of something that is known. Fear of that upcoming task, fear of having to let go of someone or something. We may fear loss, rejection, death, pain, struggle, a whole plethora of things. Fear can be something that quickly overtakes us and leaves us feeling immobilized. We may feel unsure, insecure, helpless. Feeling afraid is a universal state that we all share in varying degrees.
As aforementioned, I personally have struggled with feeling afraid lately. And just recently, I finally stopped holding it in, and just confessed it over to the Lord. I asked him to please help me overcome this fear and to respond to my cries. The response that I felt God gave was this: “Have you forgotten who I am?” At that moment I felt called to read my favorite book of the Bible, Habakkuk. Habakkuk is a short little book that is comprised of only 3 chapters. However, its impact on my life is far reaching. The prophet in this book cries out to God during a time when Judah is being invaded, and questions God. He asks God if He is actually just, if He actually cares, if He is near during this time. And God’s overarching response to Habakkuk is “Look and see.” God answers the prophet and reassures him that though in this present time he may not fully understand what will happen or what is happening, though he may feel terribly afraid, God is still near. He is still involved in the happenings of his creation and his people. God promises Habakkuk that He will not abandon his people. And once again, rereading this book gave me great comfort. Because Habakkuk ends this book by praising God, saying that even if everything around him is falling apart, he will still trust in the God of his salvation.
Though I myself have times where I am terribly afraid, I have to remind myself to look and see that God is still here. He is near. He cares. Though I may struggle with fear and though things may fail around me, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. Let us rejoice together in the God of our salvation, who has not and will not abandon us. “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
