Psalm 56:3 "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee."

Fear. An ugly 4 letter word that encompasses a lot of all that we do.

I have had a lot of fear in my heart lately and have not been trusting in the Lord as I should. I keep trying to find my own ways of fixing things without even considering where God is and what He would have me do.

This week my Bible study chapter is titled "Fearless Beauty" and on Friday an email devotional I get was about fear. I'm thankful for the way that God surrounds us with the resources we need at every stage of life exactly when we need them.

At the end of the Bible study chapter she mentions Jeremiah 17:7-8
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD
And whose trust is the LORD.
"For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.

This passage is my memory verse for the first half of this month (The LPM Blog). The thing that I struggle most with being afraid of is the 'year of drought'. Finances seem to always be an issue in our house. I am always anxious about the possibility of the drought. According to this verse when I am anxious about that I cannot yield fruit.

Finances are not the only thing I worry about. I have also been afraid of some physical issues that have been going on lately. My previous memory verse included the phrase "who heals all your diseases"(Psalm 103:3). I chose that verse specifically to remind me to put my trust in the Lord and bless Him at all times no matter the circumstance. Only God can "pardon all our iniquities" and "heal all our diseases". "Bless the Lord, O my soul!"

Those are two of the most specific things I fear, but I also have the daily anxiety that needs to be turned over to the Lord as we are reminded about in Matthew 6:34.

Pray with me about relying on God - ALL THE TIME!! I encourage any who read this to find scripture to bring to mind when the fears of your life overcome your mind.

We can yield more fruit and be effective for the Lord when we trust Him completely.