The Worst Case Scenario

Several years ago, I battled heavily with anxiety. Over the course of this struggle, my fear progressively, incrementally robbed me of life and joy. For some reason, I developed a fear of riding in cars. I can’t explain why that became the fixation of my fear. All I know is that I was afraid. Every time I heard of an accident, read about accident statistics, or saw wreckage on the side of the road, my fear would intensify. After a while, I began avoiding freeways. Then I began avoiding driving. Then I began avoiding even being a passenger in a car. Eventually, I was stuck, trapped in my own irrational snare of “What ifs.”

Thankfully, that mentality didn’t have a hold on my mind for too long. 

But my experience with anxiety and fear has given me insight on how fear works.

Fear begins with the question, “What if?” 

What if the worst should happen? What if I am harmed? What if this? What if that?

That question then becomes a fixation. That fixation eventually becomes a bondage. 

Slowly, incrementally, progressively, eventually fear robs you of life.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7, KJV)

God did not create you to live in fear. It’s an insult to your Creator to squander the potential of life because of fear.

When you fix your mind on a worry, that worry becomes the center of your life. It’s one thing to take caution as you live your life; it’s another thing entirely to allow a fear to become your life. It’s not just harmful to live in fear; it’s immoral.

Fear will always assume the worst case scenario. You won’t ever be able to enjoy anything that God has gifted to you, because you’ll always be fearfully looking for what’s lurking in the very next moment.

Fear makes you irrational. It’s wisdom to be aware of risks and to do your part to avoid them. It’s foolish to put your life on hold until all risks are gone. If you get into a car to drive, you’re risking your life and the lives of others. Is it wisdom to halt all traffic until the day all traffic accidents are prevented? When you take your loved ones to enjoy a meal, you’re risking your life and the lives of others. Should we close all restaurants until the day that the government can prevent all food poisoning accidents and choking hazards? The most dangerous thing you’ll ever do is live. Caution, yes. Paranoia, no. 

Fear makes you panic. Fear has the power to blow things so far out of proportion that it’s impossible to live. If you set your mind on something often enough and intentionally enough, its place in your thoughts grows. That’s how panic sets in. It’s amazing how panic works. There could be thousands of other risks and dangers present in the world. But panic will cause you to arbitrarily single out some specific risk or danger. With all the dangers that life presents, panic will scream, “Everyone put your life on hold until this one specific issue is dealt with.” 

And it’s nonsensical, irrational, tragic. All irrational fear, no matter what it’s about, will eventually lead to this conclusion: let’s all stay sheltered until nothing bad ever happens again.

Fear makes you selfish. Fearful people can easily become selfish people. In an attempt to protect themselves, they demand that others too become just as fearful and panicked. Fear encourages you to attempt control over those around you. I used to do that. Whenever I was in the car, I wouldn’t let my loved ones drive on the freeway. The risk I wasn’t willing to take became the risk I wouldn’t let others take. I would make them feel bad for causing me to be afraid. But, I discovered, that’s just manipulation.

Now, of course, I’m not denying that there were very real dangers in the world. And wisdom avoids unnecessary or excessive risk. And some people are more vulnerable to certain dangers than others. That’s all to be considered. But don’t allow fear to make you put your life on hold, and don’t allow fear to make you demand that others put their lives on hold. 

Stand up against fear. Resist the irrational at all costs. Don’t back down. Fight fear and claim the freedom that God has given to you - to live life. That’s the right thing to do, the selfless thing to do, the moral thing to do, the godly thing to do.

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4 Benefits of Focusing on Jesus

When Peter stepped out of the boat and began to walk on water, he experienced a miracle. Certainly, what Peter experienced was literally phenomenal. But something happened. Peter took his eyes off of Jesus, and when he did, he began to sink.

But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. (Matthew 14:30, NLT)

Peter took his eyes off of the Lord, put them on the storm, and disrupted the miracle.

Believer, please hear me - and preachers especially. If in this hour we take the focus off of Jesus, we will sink. Our futures will sink. Our ministries will sink. We will sink.

Don’t allow the winds and waves of chaos to steal your focus. Jesus must remain your focus.

When Jesus remains your focus, several things happen.

#1 Perfect Peace

Firstly, when Jesus remains your focus, your heart is filled with perfect peace.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. (Isaiah 26:3, KJV)

#2 True Unity

Secondly, when Jesus remains your focus, you’ll experience true unity with fellow believers. Focused on the Lord, you won’t become distracted by the winds and waves of this carnal world. When we focus on Jesus, we focus on what unites us, rather than on what has the potential to divide us.

Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13, NLT)

#3 Spiritual Stability

Thirdly, when Jesus remains your focus, you will be firmly established. You won’t be moved by every opinion and trend. You’ll abide faithfully, steadfastly. Nothing will be able to shake you. Your faith will remain intact, even in difficult times.

Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. (Matthew 7:24, NLT)

#4 Effectiveness

Finally, when Jesus remains your focus, you remain effective. For the past several weeks, I have been emphasizing this truth: “Jesus is still the answer, and the gospel is still the mission.” I’m happy to see that message spreading. The reason I emphasize this is because, in trying times, in confusing times, we have the tendency to get off message. When Jesus remains your focus, He remains your message. And when Jesus remains your message, you remain effective.

For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2, NLT)

So let the winds and the waves rage. Keep your eyes on Jesus. When the storm passes, you don’t want to look back in shame. You don’t want to look back and remember yourself falling apart, losing faith, being controlled by your emotions, or sinking. When you look back at the days of the storm, you’ll want to say, “I stood faithful. I kept my integrity. I kept my purity, my joy, my love, my peace. In the middle of the storm, I kept my eyes on Jesus.”

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Can You Lose the Holy Spirit?

Can you lose the Holy Spirit? Will the Holy Spirit ever leave a believer? Can you exhaust His patience with your many mistakes and repeated sins? 

All too often, I’m approached by Christians who are filled with fear and doubt - they wonder if they have finally gone too far. They imagine that their most recent mistakes have done them in, disqualified them from fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

To be clear: I’m not writing about losing your salvation. That’s an entirely different topic which would require another blog altogether. 

What I’m addressing here is the idea that a Christian can be abandoned by the Holy Spirit. Let’s settle the matter now by looking at what Jesus said:

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. (John 14:16-17, NLT)

The Holy Spirit doesn’t abandon us when we make mistakes; instead, He remains to rescue us from ourselves. Think of all that Jesus taught concerning forgiveness and patience, and then realize that God keeps to His own standards of mercy.

The Holy Spirit abides faithfully, patiently, working with us to overcome the worst parts of our humanity. The Holy Spirit is not a reward for the spiritually elite, if ever such a group existed. The Holy Spirit is our only chance at truly being spiritual. What sense would it make for God to withdraw from us our power to be holy as punishment for not meeting standards of holiness? 

The Holy Spirit’s patience is by no means an encouragement to go on sinning. And one of the marks of a true believer is a true desire to be holy, backed by a lifestyle of true repentance. 

But it is a relief to know that we are not abandoned just because we make mistakes. When you sin, repent. When you fail, turn to the Lord. When you make an ungodly mistake, humbly turn to your friend, the Holy Spirit, the One Who never leaves you, the One Who stays faithful to you, even when you are unfaithful to Him. He is more loving than we are flawed, more patient than we are stubborn, more faithful than we are sinful. 

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