Anxiety & Zest & God (Or How To Be Fearless)

Light, space, zest – that’s God. So, with him on my side I’m fearless, afraid of no one and nothing. Psalm 27:1 (MSG)

Photo: Thomas Tolkien via photopin cc | Design: Wendy van Eyck

Don’t you sometimes wish that you could see God all around you, that you could see God in light and space? That His presence was something you could almost taste? 

Do you ever think that if you could see and do these things you’d have less fear? 

If you could see God in light and space and zest, would you worry less, and be more certain that God was with you?

I think that all the time.

I especially think it when anxiety begins to creep in, ‘God, if I could only see that you were here, I wouldn’t be afraid.’

Today my husband goes for his third scan post chemotherapy for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and I’m afraid.

Fearful for the results. Scared of hearing the lymph nodes are enlarged. Terrified we’ll have all our dreams for this year shattered. Again. 

I’ve been reading up on fear in the bible, reminding myself that fear is not from God, praying about how to give that worry back to him, and thinking about how fear rules so many of our lives.

Then I found this verse in Psalms about how to be fearless. And I began to think, I can do this, I don’t need to let fear rule my life. 

This verse in Psalms says God is light, space, zest.  

If God is light than I have a tangible reminder that God is always there. 

I can flick a switch and see my God. (<-- click here to tweet this)

I love that God is light because even in the dark I can turn on a light, spark a match or know that the moon shines even when I can’t see it. 

I know that light always pushes back darkness, always shoves out fear.

Then I read that God is space. 

And space is all around me, stuffed into gaps and openings and time, covering earth and the universe and the cosmos. Suddenly it makes a lot more sense how God can be bigger than anything we fear. 

But my favourite part of the verse is that God is zest. God is in our love of life. God is the flavouring we add to our lives.

Enthusiasm, keenness, gusto, relish, passion – that’s our God. That doesn’t sound anything like fear. 

Tang, piquancy, bite, spice, taste – that’s our God. That doesn’t taste like fear. 

I don’t know about you but often when I feel fear I sense it. My mouth goes dry, my stomach flips, my hands shake and I don’t see things properly, which is why I love that God is light, space and zest. 

We can be fearless because we can see, feel and taste God is with us. 

Light, space and zest are all around us. So is God. (<-- click here to tweet this)

Next time you feel afraid, look around you, and see God in the sunlight, the air you breathe and the taste of your food. 

Little reminders that God is with you and you don’t need to be afraid of no one and nothing. 

How do you think seeing God all around you will help you to be fearless?

Prayer: Thank you, Lord that you are all around us. Help me to see you in light, space and zest. Show me tangibly that you’re on my side and I don’t need to be afraid. Amen.

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