The Periodically

Fear is common to man. Each of us can identify situations in life that cause us to be fearful, and certainly there are situations where fear is an appropriate response. For example, there is a certain fear that washes over a parent when she reaches for the hand of her toddler in a busy shopping mall only to discover that the little one’s hand is not there. Fear for the safety of her child compels the mother to act, quickly. Sadly, however, the fear that grips us often is the result of our failure to trust in our gracious and sovereign God (Ps 34:19-20; Luke 12:22-31; John 10:28). King David was accustomed to fear. Recorded for us in the book of the Psalms are several accounts of David’s battle against fear. God has graciously given us instruction for how to combat our fear and an example of this instruction is found in Psalm 56. In this psalm, David has fled for his life from the deranged King Saul. David is in the presence of the Philistines of Gath and learns that they are n...

What is it about change that makes us uneasy? Why do we often prefer that things would not change? Indeed, there is something about sameness that is rather appealing to us, but why? These kinds of questions demand hard thinking. After all, pursuing answers to questions such as these just may reveal that change (there, I said it!) is necessary. The past year has been marked by significant changes in my own life, and these changes have given me reason to pause and consider what the Lord would have me learn from them. As followers of Jesus, we need not fear change, whether great or small. I will give two reasons why we fear change and then explain why these fears need not be a part of the Christian’s life. First, we fear change because we are comfortable with our routine. Surely, you’ve heard it said, “We’re creatures of habit!” When change is introduced to our daily activity we sometimes grow anxious because our routine has been disrupted. Second, we fear change because we fear...