When Fear Rules - Martin Wiles

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

All around, I witnessed evidence of fear.

“I can’t find eggs for under four dollars a dozen, and I’m not gonna pay that,” one of my church members said as we talked on the phone. “Nor can I find any toilet paper.”

The COVID-19 pandemic made people act in weird—even illogical—ways. Hoarding toilet paper was one of them. After a while, this practice became a joke and the topic of many memes on Facebook and Instagram. I laughed as I looked at them--but not when I, like my friend, went to store after store and couldn’t find any toilet paper. Or when I had to get to the store as soon as they opened to purchase only one pack after stores put a limit on how many packs a customer could buy.

“Eggs are just over a dollar a dozen at Food Lion,” I told my friend, “and they do have toilet paper early in the morning.” He told me he wasn’t an early riser, so I knew why he couldn’t find any.

“Do you want us to bring you some Sunday morning when we come to church?” Even though we were only live-streaming, we went to church to record the sermon. 

He said, “Yes,” and I could hear the relief in his voice. He was running low on toilet paper. Early the following day, my wife and I headed to the grocery store and made his purchases and some of our own.

Not long after our conversation with this church member, another texted my wife, “Could you see if you can find me some bread-making flour and packs of yeast? The shelves here are empty.” She lived in the same small town as our other friend.

My wife said she would, and we added those items to the list. But when we went to the grocery store early that morning, we had no luck with her items. She wasn’t the only one who had turned to making homemade bread since the shelves were often emptied of manufactured bread.

I had never experienced what the pandemic did to people. Fear and anxiety ruled, and worry followed in their footsteps. Stores couldn’t keep toilet paper on the shelves, even though diarrhea was not a symptom of the virus. Other paper products disappeared as well, as did hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, and Clorox. Even though they should have already had things hoarded, hoarders emerged from the woodwork and added to their stash. Meat disappeared from meat counters.

Getting what we needed required early trips to the grocery store, multiple trips to the grocery store, or multiple trips to many different stores. By the time stores finally caught on and limited purchases of certain items, it was too late. The hoarders had hoarded.

Listening to the news didn’t help. The President and his COVID Task Force came on the air almost daily, reminding me of President Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats during the Great Depression. And once a week, the governor of our state gave local updates and changes.

Initially, I let the hoarders do the fearing and worrying, but the more I listened to the news, the more I felt fear creeping into my life. Scenes of people fighting over toilet paper didn’t help--nor did seeing hundreds of people waiting at food pantries, hearing about the rising number of unemployed, or watching the military build field hospitals. Things that reminded me of war times. And we were in a war, just not with an observable enemy.

To top things off, the South witnessed a string of deadly tornadoes roar through—tornadoes that stayed on the ground for miles at a time, destroying homes and businesses and taking lives. Talking to my cousin, who’s a first responder, didn’t help. She told me about a little girl impaled on a tree.

When fear rules, anxiety and worry aren’t far behind. But Paul tells us God hasn’t given those things. Instead, He sends a sound mind.

Fear comes in two varieties: the “I’m afraid of” type and the “respect” type. The first is healthy if it relates to dangerous situations I’m trying to avoid or remove myself from. But if the things I fear are imaginary—things that might happen but haven’t—and those things control me, leading me to live in a constant state of fear, I then live in an unhealthy state of mind. The respect type of fear is good, especially concerning God. He has life and death power over me. I respect and love him because he’s my God and has provided for my forgiveness.

When the correct type of fear rules our lives, we won’t worry, fear, or be anxious. God controls all our tomorrows. He knows what we need, and just as he cares for His creation and creatures, he’ll care for us. When we trust him with all situations and circumstances, He’ll remove our anxieties and give us a peace we can’t explain. On top of it all, he’ll provide us with a sound mind that cannot co-exist with fear.

Letting the wrong kind of fear rule our lives leads to hoarding, manipulating, killing, and selfish acts. The right type of fear, however, leads us to selfless living where we trust God and love our neighbors.

Don’t let the wrong kind of fear rule your life.

Father, I give my fears to you and ask that you send me your peace. 

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Swim Don’t WADE - Martin Wiles

So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. Matthew 14:29-30 NLT

My plans were in place, but circumstances beyond my control changed them.

I was in college, finally preparing for what God had called me to do: preach. However, I had always felt a part of that call was also to teach.

Twenty miles away was a university that worked with my college. If a graduate entered their master’s program, all their earned credits would transfer. Within one year, I could complete my graduate degree and be certified in elementary education. 

But a few months before graduation, my plans melted. I had recently quit my part-time job, and now my wife’s employer told her she was closing the business. By graduation night, we were both unemployed.

I was devastated. I could preach, but my chance of teaching—at least in the public sector--had vanished like a bad dream. Peter may have felt the same when he tried to walk on water. Wasn’t he one of the disciples who had left his business immediately when Jesus called him to follow? Hadn’t he palled around with Him and listened intently to His teachings? Wasn’t he the one who understood Jesus was the Messiah? Now, he wanted to test his faith. But he was disappointed. When Peter saw the waves’ angry arms grasping at his ankles, he sank like a stone.

Since I can’t swim, I will only wade. But some wading I don’t care for, and this tends to happen when disappointments wash over me. I Worry, even though God says worry is unnecessary because He’ll care for His children’s needs.

I’m also prone to drift toward Anxiety. God’s Word also reminds me I don’t have to be anxious. Instead, I can submit my prayers and concerns to God, and He’ll calm the waves.

When I wade, I can drift toward Depression. After all, depression is just around the corner when worry and anxiety are present.

But the worst-case scenario when I wade is that I’ll experience Emotional burnout. Rather than controlling my emotions, my emotions will control me. When moods fluctuate, trust in and service to God also do.

Don’t WADE. Trust God regardless of your circumstances.

Father, thank You that no waves are too high that Your love and sustaining power can’t help me overcome. 

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Cast Your Cares - Martin Wiles

Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22 NKJV

She wasn’t any good at rod-and-reel casting because she never did it. Instead, my maternal grandmother was a cane pole caster. Weather permitting, she fished every time she got a chance, but she didn’t take a rod-and-reel. She cut cane that grew in the swamps around their farmland and made her own fishing poles. 

Occasionally, when I’d fish with her, I’d take along a rod-and-reel. She’d dip her poles near the boat, and I’d cast my line into the middle of the lake. I can’t ever remember catching anything with my rod-and-reel. I knew how to cast, but I undoubtedly wasn’t casting in the right place or with the right lures.

Another type of casting has also been difficult for me. The kind the psalmist refers to—the type where I take my cares and anxieties and throw them to God. Although the Bible assures me God cares for me and doesn’t want me to be anxious over things occurring in my life, I tend let my feelings win out too many times. I forget God’s promise to sustain me.

Whatever cares I have, God has them too. If I’m His child, He’s concerned about every detail in my life. He’s even concerned about those who aren’t His children. His love reaches to all, but especially to those who’ve chosen to follow Him.

How God can handle all the cares we hold onto at any given moment is beyond understanding. But, after all, He is God. He’s the sovereign ruler of the universe. He controls, guides, and sustains. All those traits equip Him to shoulder whatever concerns us. We can only handle so much before we have a nervous breakdown, emotional burnout, or turn to substances to help us get through. But if we’ll let God handle those things, we won’t have to experience any of that.

Trying to handle our cares shows a lack of trust in God. He never tires of us casting our cares on Him. Unlike my casting, which never resulted in anything, casting on God always has results. We’ll reel in His peace, comfort, wisdom, and guidance to face whatever causes our anxiety.

Try casting God’s way. You’ll never be disappointed.

Father, I cast my cares on You, believing You are able to give me comfort and peace, regardless of my circumstances. 

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Axing Anxiety - Martin Wiles

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you. I Peter 5:7 NLT

“Your wife and daughter have been in a wreck.”

Frank listened to the voicemail. Anxiety crept up his throat. He and his brother had been hiking in a place with no cell phone reception. He could see he had voicemail but couldn’t listen to them. As soon as they left and reached a place where reception was possible, he dialed *86. But he wasn’t prepared for what he heard.

Two hours stretched between him and the hospital where he needed to go. All types of thoughts meandered through his mind as he drove. He attempted to place matters in God’s hands, but it didn’t seem to work. His gut wrenched, his mind raced, and his hands oozed.

Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as he imagined. His daughter only bent her glasses, but his wife broke a foot and crushed her wrist. Frank discovered his anxiety hadn’t changed a thing. 

Peter wrote to first-century Christians who suffered miserably for their faith. He encouraged them to give their cares to God because he cared about what they faced.

Peter’s encouragement is still appropriate twenty centuries later. God cares about what happens to his children. Sure, I sometimes wonder why he allows certain things to happen if he cares so much, but that’s not for me to know. He is God; I am not. Since he is loving and kind, we can trust his heart even when we can’t see the reason behind what he does or allows.

I’ve learned being anxious won’t solve anything either. Anxiety didn’t undo the wreck Frank’s daughter and wife had. It won’t undo the effects of a natural disaster nor stymie the blows of a bully. Neither will it put money in our bank accounts for monthly bills.

In fact, anxiety impairs our judgment. An anxious mind can’t make good decisions. Anxiety will lead us to unhealthy habits in an attempt to soothe our troubled feelings or to unwise decisions in an effort to undo what has been done.

Believing God cares about what we’re facing will replace the anxiety with peace—peace that can’t be explained or understood, but peace nonetheless. When we take our needs to God, he transforms the anxiety into peace—regardless of the nature of our circumstances.

Let God teach you the art of axing anxiety.

Father, soothe my anxious moments with the assurance of your love and control. 

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When Panic Sets In - Martin Wiles

The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm. Exodus 14:14 NLT

Dead ends faced me in every direction I turned.

Every fall, when apple-picking time arrived, my wife and I, along with our daughter and her two boys, made our way to Hendersonville, North Carolina. We enjoy the scenery, love the apples, and enjoy watching the grandboys play on the various attractions.

One activity we always enjoy entails walking through the corn maze. Walking through a cornfield where the corn reaches higher than my six-foot frame brings back fond memories—memories of doing the same as a boy as my cousin, and I ran through our grandfather’s corn fields.

The corn maze also reminds me of an attraction at the local fair where I grew up in Orangeburg, South Carolina: the Glass House. As I recall, I only mustered the nerve to do it one time. Everywhere I turned, I hit a glass wall. I finally made my way out, but not before panic set in.

While I enjoy the corn maze, I always feel a sense of anxiety when walking through it. Paths lead in all directions. I have no way of knowing which one will lead me to the end of the maze. Fortunately, I have my wife ahead of me, and she has a better sense of direction. But even with her excellent nose, we hit several dead ends. A sign greeted us, telling us we had come the wrong way.

Since the corn stalks stretch tall like a church steeple, seeing over them to find a landmark that would direct us back to the apple barn was impossible. Finally, we made our way out. Although I was a little anxious, I did not panic. In this case, I knew I could walk out of the field if I wanted to and see where I was.

Not so easily solved with COVID-19, which hit in full force during 2019-2020. People in China contracted it initially, and many died. Suddenly, the virus left China and marched across the world. The number of infected grew—and thousands died. With no cure available, panic grew. Toilet paper disappeared from shelves like a chicken thief with his goods—even though diarrhea was not a symptom of the virus. Hand sanitizer followed. My wife and I walked through retail and grocery stores and saw empty shelves. People hoarded food items as well. Doomsday thinking reigned.

Panic had a domino effect. Sporting events were axed. Churches canceled services. The President of the United States declared a national state of emergency. Governors closed schools. Even the private school where I teach closed. Everywhere, panic and anxiety rose and multiplied. People were encouraged to social distance themselves from places where fifty or more people would be gathered—then ten. Restaurants closed their dining areas and only opened the carry-out or drive-thrus.

Panic also gripped God’s people. They had just left four hundred years of slavery in Egypt. As they made their way toward the Red Sea, the king of Egypt—who had changed his mind about letting them go—hounded them. When the children of Israel looked around, they saw Pharaoh and his armies behind them and the Red Sea in front of them. Moses, their leader, told them to stay calm. The Lord would fight for them. Moses’ message was the same I heard from official after official during the Coronavirus: stay calm.  

When panic over dire circumstances sets in, we should remember a big but comforting word: sovereignty. The Bible attributes this trait to God. He is in control. He has not stepped away from his throne, where he rules the world.

God will also watch over His children. This does not mean we won’t succumb to the sickness, but God will give us wisdom to do what we need. And if a disease or natural disaster should snatch our lives away, God has an eternal home awaiting us. Knowing this, however, should not prevent us from taking every precaution we can. God gives us a mind to use and His Spirit to guide us along proper courses of action.

Trust is the key. God tells us not to be anxious or worry. He will supply our needs. Whatever we’re anxious about, we can present to him in prayer, and he will give us a peace that exceeds our understanding.

Panic sends a bad message that we think things are out of control, but they aren’t. God controls the timing and the duration of the situation and uses it for his good purposes—as well as ours.

When circumstances appear out of control and you are tempted to panic, remember who controls the situation.

Father, I look to you to lead me away from panic and fear and to trust instead. 

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Keep Calm - Martin Wiles

I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4 NLT

The note gave one simple suggestion: “Keep Calm.”

Teaching challenges the best of us. Teaching middle schoolers presents a greater test, and teaching any students two weeks prior to summer vacation is yet more challenging. But I had the task, as I had had for the past six years.

One young student knew her class had pushed my buttons to the limit. Not her. She was a model student who always came in with a smile on her face, maintained a positive attitude even when her grades weren’t what she wanted, and did her best. 

Near the end of class, she asked for a sticky note. I handed her a small one, thinking she needed it for a bookmark. Class ended, and I didn’t see her again until the end of the day when she pranced into my room, handed me the note, smiled, and left.

The note wasn’t plain blue anymore. She had multicolored it. When finished with the coloring, she wrote the message, “Keep Calm,” in large letters. She gave me a big smile as she handed me the note. “I made this for you,” she beamed. I thanked her, and she went on her merry way.

Little did she know how much I needed the message. Not only because of the hectic scenarios that can arise when we near the end of a school year but also because of the challenges my wife and I faced at home.

I had been doing a lot of what the psalmist had done, but I hadn’t been freed from all my fears. Anxiety and worry dominated my thoughts. I was giving in to the messages of the enemy when I should have been listening to the verse … and the note.

Some days and life seasons make anxiety and worry easier to come by. Overcoming them means recognizing the perceived sources because the perceived sources are not the origins at all. For sure, some scenarios make it easier to be anxious, but no one or nothing can make me anxious, just as no one or nothing can make me angry. I choose anxiety and worry.

We can also choose the opposite: freedom from fears. God gives us the free will to do so, along with the promise that He controls our situations and can bring peace during them if we’ll face them with the correct mindset. The choice is ours, but so are the consequences. Fear and worry bring anxiety, while prayer and trust bring peace.

When you think you just can’t face one more day—or one more problem—keep calm.

Prayer: Father, help us to remain calm when it appears that everything is out of control.

Tweetable: Are anxiety and worry dominating your life? 

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Throwback Tuesday - Overwhelmed - Martin Wiles

Overwhelmed

But the other men who had explored the land with him answered, “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are.” Numbers 13:31 NLT

False accusations, anger, unkind remarks. They were all in the mix.

Ben was following in his father’s footsteps. His father had been a pastor for as long as he could remember, and he had felt God calling him to do the same thing. After four years of faithful service to his third church, Ben discovered his wife had been unfaithful. False accusations flew, among them that he knew about her antics but was covering them up. At the same time, he was leading the church through some needed changes. This was angering others—some of whom directed angry, unkind remarks toward him. Read more...

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In the Midst of Anxiety - Solace from the Psalms - Martin Wiles

For thousands of years, people have found comfort in the Psalms. No matter what emotion you are experiencing or fight you're facing, the psalms have something important to say. For the next little while, Love Lines from God will feature, "Solace from the Psalms." We hope you enjoy. And please share them with a friend. 

When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer. Psalm 94:19 NLT

Encountering her in the middle of nowhere was a tense moment. And wondering how she’d react only increased our anxiety.

My brother and I were on the Appalachian Trail in northern Georgia. We had repeatedly heard rustling in the leaves ahead of us, but never observed the culprit. Suddenly, it appeared as we rounded a curve in the trail: a mother bear with two cubs. We froze in our tracks as she eyed us. We knew this was the most dangerous situation in which to encounter a bear. We slowly backed away, blew a whistle, and rattled branches, and hoped she wouldn’t bound around the curve with teeth bared. Fortunately, she mosied along, and so did we.

I’ve lived through many anxious moments and obviously so did the psalmist.

When anxiety begins its approach, I’ve learned to ask, “Is what I’m anxious about worth worrying about?” Then I remember Jesus said I shouldn’t worry (Matthew 6:25), and Paul echoed the same (Philippians 4:6). There are some things I should fear—like a mother bear with cubs—and there are many things I should be concerned about. But moving to anxiety or worry crosses the line and demonstrates my mistrust of God.

When I give my concerns and anxieties to God, He promises a peace that transcends my understanding (Philippians 4:7). This peace comes when I believe by faith that He’s in control, loves me, and has my best interests at heart. Sure bad things will happen, but God promises to weave all things together for my good…and yours too.

Regardless of how trying your situations may be, God will give you the wisdom to make the right decisions along with the ability to live anxiety-free.

Tweetable: Are you living anxiety-free?

Prayer: Thank You merciful and gracious Father for calming our fears and relieving our anxieties.

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