The Lord has given us all discernment. Without it, we would not last long in this world. We encounter thoughts and circumstances all day, every day. And healthy fear keeps us from trouble. From learning not to play with fire to not playing on a busy street. From not hurting others' feelings unnecessarily to working well with others at our jobs. Discernment and healthy fear are important. However, unhealthy fear is a danger that we need to all be aware of.

Healthy fear keeps us on the wise path but unhealthy fear subtly opens the door to the enemy. When we give more place to fear than to God's ability to help us through our circumstances, it does at least two things. For one, it is a lack of faith in God and that is really bad. Not only is without faith, impossible to please God but to doubt God including His ability to help us, is a sin. Secondly, when we turn our back on God's provision for our circumstances, we open the door to trouble.

Right choices empower God to work in our circumstances and wrong choices empower the devil and his cohorts to work. It is up to us, who we empower. We cannot give place to the devil and expect to see God move in our circumstances. The sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, has been given to us not only for our defense and but also for our offense; and we must not only stand on His Word; but sometimes we have to apply and wield the Sword. We must pray prayers of faith and eliminate doubt. We must ask the Lord for His wisdom and direction in our challenges.

Wisdom calls out for us to trust God and not fear. All throughout the Bible, we see the Lord exhorting and commanding His people not to have unhealthy fear but rather to put their faith and trust in Him. And just like those who have gone before us, the choice is up to each one of us. Do we listen to the voice of fear or the voice of the Holy Spirit? One is a miserable spring of torment and the other a well-spring of life. Let's choose to truly believe and really trust the Lord, not just in lip-service but with all our hearts and in all our ways!

As David, the psalmist, king and giant-slayer, said to the Lord when he was girding himself up:

• Psalms 56:3 Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.

And as the prophet Isaiah recorded the Word of the Lord:

• Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'”

And Jeremiah, the weeping prophet whose assignment was to one of the most stiff-necked generations ever, wrote:

• Jeremiah 17:7-8 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.

And our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, said:

• Luke 12:4-6 "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him! Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God.”

For more on this subject, please the full article: THE DANGER OF UNHEALTHY FEAR and "FEAR NOT & DO NOT BE AFRAID"- BIBLE VERSES.

What do we trust in? Is what we trust in truly secure and stable? People may disappoint us, no matter how much they love us or how good their intentions are, because they have weaknesses and shortcomings just as we do.

No human being is able to anticipate and fulfill all the needs of another person. No one can know all that someone else expects from them to do, say or feel. The only “one” that is omniscient (knows it all), omnipotent (has all the power) and omnipresent (is present everywhere at the same time) is God. Our family, friends, spouses, politicians, governments and even brothers & sisters in Christ, all let us down at some point. “God” is the only “one” that will never let us down nor forsake us! Sometimes it may seem that He did, when His answers to our prayers and expectations are different than ours, but in considering the bigger picture, He always does what is best for us in the long term. Always! You may read more on the subject at click here: "God Will Never Forsake His Children.”

• 2 Kings 18:3, 5b And he (King Hezekiah) did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done... (5) He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him.

Hezekiah's father, King Ahaz, in order to please one of the kings of Assyria, forsook the Lord and completely violated and desecrated the holy temple of God, including making an offering for himself, abandoning the holy altar for one he had made, and completely disregarding God's priestly system. He even removed the gold and gave it to the Assyrian king. He was so evil, that he brought one of his sons as a living sacrifice to a foreign god (2 Kings 16). Thankfully, Hezekiah did not follow in the footsteps of his father.

• 2 Chronicles 32:8 “With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

The faithfulness of King Hezekiah strengthened the people's hearts and caused them to not fall for the lies of the servants of Sennacherib, the Assyrian king. They were trying hard to terrify the people of Jerusalem in order to conquer them. It was a desperate situation, but Hezekiah chose to trust God and called for the prophet Isaiah to come and pray for the right solution. The king's right choice saved the whole nation.

• 2 Chronicles 32: 20-22 Now because of this King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven. Then the Lord sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned shamefaced to his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there. Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.

God has all the power and He can save us from all the evil ones that seem to be stronger than us. The best solutions, for the most desperate situations come only from God. The Hebrew soldiers, even if they would have the most powerful weapons of the time and the best training, could not do a better or faster job than an angel of the Lord did. There were no victims of the people who's king chose to trust the Lord God. But the camp that mocked God (2 Chronicles 32:17), lost every “mighty man of valor, leader, and captain” as they were killed by God's angel. Even their King Sennacherib, ended up killed by his own sons. He chose to trust in his hand-made golden god, who was not able to to anything for him. And because he mocked the Lord God, he lost the battle, his best leaders, soldiers and even his own life.


C. Pușcaș