Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. Isaiah 55.22
The continent of Europe has been shaken by an economic crisis that is relentless. Heads of state,
bankers and economists are furiously debating and working to find a workable solution. Spain’s
unemployment rate is at 25%. Greece is seemingly headed toward an exit from the euro.
All of this has shaken the already difficult economic and employment situation here in America. This
gives many of us cause to fear about the future not only for ourselves but also for our loved ones.
There is only one way to effectively overcome fear and anxiety and that is to trust God. But trusting
God is not some act of the will alone. To trust God he has given us his promises in the Bible to sustain
us. Standing on what God has promised us in the word is trust or faith. Take a scripture like the one
above, believe it and quote it to yourself every time you sense you are becoming fearful about your
circumstances. This works.
I know it works because there was a time in the not too distant past where I was underemployed for a
number of years. Things got very difficult for us as a family. In this trying circumstance I learned how to
trust God by standing on his word in the Bible. I found promises that encouraged me and I confessed
them every day and sometimes multiple times a day.
Over a period of time, I noticed that my faith in God was growing because of this exercise. God’s word
strengthened me and carried me in peace through all the difficulty. My circumstances took quite a while
to change but my faith sustained me in the desert.