How Can I Rest When I'm So Fearful?

"I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around." Psalm 3:5-6

Fear is a powerful emotion. It's controlling. It grabs us and won't let go. David in Psalm 3, has every right to be fearful. He is surrounded by those that want to do him harm. In fact he says he's surrounded by thousands who have set themselves against him.

I know I've never had that many people who were bent on finding me and killing me, but I certainly have felt overwhelming fear and anxiety. It's not a great place to be. When your walls are caving in around, you can feel desperate and in that desperation, we sometimes make poor choices. It would have been easy for David to do something dumb in this situation, like so many of us, when we become fearful, it's easy to just want to take action.

That's not what David does though, he takes a nap. He says in verse 5, that he laid down and slept. He rested. Now most of us cannot relate to this. In our fear, we want to take action, we want to fix things, we want to vanquish our enemies, but David does none of those things. How can it be that when he is quite literally surrounded by his enemy, that David is able to rest?

I believe it's because he totally trusted God. I've heard many people before say there is a big difference between saying you trust someone and actually trusting them. I can say that I trust a chair to hold me up, but it takes real trust to actually sit down in it. David is exemplifying real trust. He is saying, Lord, I trust you with my life. I will lay down and rest, knowing that it is only by your hand that I will wake up. It's only by your hand that I can rest.

I believe the Lord sends tests to us so that we can see where our faith is placed. This isn't a bad thing, it's actually a very good thing. By sending a trial upon us, we can determine the level of faith we actually have in the Lord. And sometimes, we may be surprised by the answer. That's ok, that's why God has grace. He sends us a trial, but he doesn't withhold his grace. So if you have found yourself in the midst of a trial of testing, know this, God is with you and he loves you. He hasn't left you and he is working all things for your good.

Prayer - Lord, I thank you that you send us trials to test us. Thank you for growing our trust in you. Thank you for giving us rest in the storm. Help us to trust you more. Help us to continue to find our rest in you even when fear has encompassed us. Amen.