New Dawn: Facing Fear 365Sample

Chaos, disorder, dysfunction: whatever you call it, we’ve all experienced it. Inside our minds the sirens are ringing, and there’s a red neon sign with the word ‘danger’ burned into the back of our foreheads. We’ve all faced metaphorical hurricanes that have swept us off our feet – moments in our lives when we’re unable to distinguish what’s up from down, losing our centre of gravity as everything is thrown into disarray.

Whether it’s a church scandal that has rocked a local community, a completely unexpected breakdown in a relationship, political dysfunction on the highest level that divides a country, or a personal battle you feel you keep on losing, sometimes our lives are on fire through no fault of our own.

The first question in these times of instability can be, ‘What did I do to cause this?’ – feeling that we are to blame for the mayhem. But the truth is, sometimes we have done nothing at all. We are not always to blame for disorder in our lives; chaos is inescapable, another cog in the wheel of reality.

So rather than panic when the alarm goes off, or feel guilt when the ‘danger’ sign is on, let’s begin to build a ‘fire exit strategy’ for ourselves so that our souls are prepared for dealing with the next fire, rather than being surprised by the unavoidable. A ‘fire exit strategy’ may simply be the commitment to stop in times of chaos and acknowledge that God is in control, memorising today’s scripture and speaking it over ourselves in times of need.