Friday, October 28, 2022

DON’T ASSIGN FEAR TO IT

Sound Minds

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

The other day, in my role as a nursing instructor, I was screening staff for COVID-19 symptoms. Before I can check others, I must first check myself. When I took my temperature initially, it read 98.9 (my temp is typically 97.9). My heart rate immediately went up. My mind began to race. “I hope I don’t have COVID; let me check it again.” When I checked it the second time, the thermometer read 99.4. I knew something was wrong. I began to think about the number of people I had been around and my possibly “new” reality. Shortly after that, I checked it again. This time my temperature was 100.4. I dropped the thermometer and walked outside to call my director. I explained my situation to her. She sensed my fear, and told me to go home and monitor it the rest of the day. In the midst of this chaos and fear, my mind cleared for a moment. I decided to check my temperature using another thermometer and it was 97.9. I went back to the other one, and there was an error message. For that moment, I was just fine.

While I had no negative outcomes from what transpired, my day was disrupted and those around me were impacted too. The fact of the matter is that God gives us a sound mind. I did not have to assign fear to this situation. I could have trusted God in it, knowing that He is all powerful and full of love. That could have kept my mind sound, seeing things the way God sees them. If I could not trust Him for those few moments, what would I do if the outcome was undesirable. God is God despite the circumstances.

Prayer: Lord, oh what peace we often forfeit because we walk in fear. We have learned to live a life of contradictions – talking about a powerful and loving God, while doubting when confronted with challenging situations. Lord, give us soundness of mind so that we see our situations as you see them. Help us put things in their proper perspective, trusting you through the process. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

First published September 11, 2020