Trusting God When You're Afraid

During our family lake trip, my young nephew stood at the edge of a cliff, peering down into the deep water. The cliff didn't look that high from my vantage point, floating by our pontoon boat. Even though others already jumped, my nephew hesitated.

"You have to jump!” his mother instructed. “You’ll be fine.”

He shook his head, “But I'm scared!”

To give him courage, I climbed the rocky cliff to stand beside him. Yet as I looked down, the water looked like a black abyss a mile away. Suddenly, I felt the same fear.

“Why aren't you jumping?” he pressed.

“Give me a second!” I retorted and bowed my head in prayer.

My nephew whispered that maybe we should just walk back down instead. That path seemed safer.

But my dad called up, “The rocks are too slick. You have to jump!”

So, with another prayer, I leapt into the depths. The splash was loud, the water was cold, but I came up laughing. What looked like a frightening path turned out to be exhilarating. However, my nephew remained unconvinced.

Eventually, my cousin stepped in—as a dad of three sons, he was an expert. He lifted my nephew and safely dropped him. Although my nephew agreed to this plan, he shook his head in regret the entire way down, but when he came up, he was laughing, too.

Listening to my dad that day reminded me of what it's like to listen to my heavenly Father. God’s instructions can feel scary, or even counterintuitive.

In the Book of Jeremiah, King Zedekiah faced a decision to obey God’s voice when the path was terrifying. The king heard the word of the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah: if he surrendered, his city, his family, and his own life would be saved. But if he refused, they would be destroyed (see Jeremiah 38:17).  

Zedekiah's response?

“But I am afraid…” (Jeremiah 38:19 NLT) 

For years, instead of moving forward, King Zedekiah would not surrender. His fear outweighed his trust in God, and the results were devastating. Zedekiah lost all Jeremiah had warned him he would and more (see Jeremiah 39:1-9). 

Like King Zedekiah, we can hesitate so long—just as my nephew and I did on the cliff—that fear becomes our decision. We're tempted to take paths that seem easier but can make us slip and get hurt. But God sends us help. He gave us Jesus to lift us when fear leaves us frozen, just as He sent my nephew a father to get him safely into the water. Whether we leap on our own or we’re lifted by others, obey His voice.

My prayer is that when we hear His voice today, we’ll be open to do what He says and not harden our hearts (see Hebrews 3:15). May we have the courage to take the next step and experience the joy that comes following Him.

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Scripture is quoted from the Holy Bible New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.