“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.” Psalm 56:3

We have been talking quite a bit about fear and its friends, and while there is more to explore with that, there is a crucial second part to Psalm 56:3 that we need to consider: “…I will put my trust in You.”  It is the very antidote to the fear that often controls us, and it is the best possible solution to overcoming the feelings of afraid and its many friends.

Remember, we identified several of the different feelings that stem from our fears.  Things like regret, unwillingness, reluctance, and unhappiness.  In my life, I had only associated it with apprehension or being scared.  So the question becomes what do you do when you are feeling any of those things?

Let’s look at the definition of will:

Will = 1.  Am about or going to; 2.  Am disposed or willing to;   3.  Am expected or required to; 5.  Am determined or sure to;  7.  Am habitually disposed or  inclined to; 8. Am capable of.   Dictionary.com/will

In this context, to be “willing”, you have to purposefully and determinedly choose God over the feelings of fear that may be taking all of your focus and energy.  To be determined means “resolute; staunch; decided; settled; resolved.” Id./determined.  Inclined means to be “2. disposed; of a mind…tending in a direction that makes an angle with anything else.” Id./inclined.  You will have to wrangle your feelings to get your trust of God back to your center; requiring yourself to choose Him to guide the direction of your thoughts.  If you notice in the initial definition of “will”, you will see “am” before every verb.  Who is that referring to?

You and me.  “I will put my trust in You.” (Psalm 56:3, emphasis mine).  It is your choice; each person’s choice when they are afraid.  God will not force us to choose Him.  He will not make us trust Him if we are unwilling, and He will not relieve our fears unless we trust Him over them.  It is in the exercising of our faith that we are given the power to freely choose, and it is what builds a more pure and steadfast faith in God.

So, okay, you need to be willing.  Let’s say you have decided to be determinedly willing to trust Him.  What’s next?

Put.  Yep, think of Will and Put as to two things that work together to build faith.  Will and Put.  Consider them as close friends of yours.  While they are meant to be the part of your life that helps you, they truly need your conscious awareness of what they are doing.  Understand that they are action words and have really important jobs to do.  So, when left to their own devises they will build faith in anything…it just might not be faith in God.

You see, Will needs constant instruction.  He is full of choices and knows they need to be made.  He tends to listen to that which is most assertive.  And think about it, aren’t your fears normally loud?  Aren’t your cravings incessant?  There’s often so much noise in the world clamoring for attention and decisions that without the proper consideration, self-control and restraint, your “will” gets misled.  Poor thing, it has a job that it knows needs to be done, but when we are unwilling to guide or control it, we are leaving Will open to influence of other not-so-good things.

Stop and ponder whether you’ve ever let a fear put you in the backseat while it drives around in your mind, or worse yet, your life because you make decisions based on it?  Will is just glad to have something in control, and though you might be afraid of what you fear, that fear is all too willing to navigate you down roads and scenarios that are totally unnecessary to your mental, physical or spiritual well-being.

Now Put, let’s look at that friend of ours:

Put = “1. to move or place (anything) so as to get it into or out of a specific location or position; 2. to bring into some relation, state; 3. to place in the charge or power of a person, institution, etc.; 4. to subject to the endurance or suffering of something; 22. to shoot out and grow.”  Id./put

Let us remember that when we are afraid, it is best to give our trust back over to God by actively putting Him back in and at the center of our thoughts and hearts.  Let’s unfold that further, the definition of “put” states “to move or place (anything) so as to get it into or out of a specific location or position.”  Id./put.  That means, we literally have to move the associated feelings of being afraid to somewhere other than the mainstream of our thoughts.  Further, the definition implies that we will, most likely, have to replace it with something.  That makes sense because an empty spot of worry, not filled with the correct focus, will likely lead to more fretting.  A new opening for something quite frequently gets filled with something else if not properly managed.

So to understand Put a little better, think of her as a mover.  She operates with the job of helping Will move out of place, or into place, things that can help bring around what Will is trying to do with his instructions.  When Will needs strength to endure, Put moves strength into the right places so that Will can make the decision to endure further.  When Will is guided by fear in decision making, rather than being given a determined choice to trust in God, Put moves into place all the feelings that aid fear in being at the center of your attention.  With no ill intention, Put just facilitates and enlarges the spaces needed to house whatever is controlling or directing Will.  When Will is saying fear is at the helm, Put may deplete the rest of your strength trying to make room for fear’s growth.

In this verse, God gives us an amazing gift.  The understanding that Will and Put are truly managed by us and our choices.  “I will put…” brings it all back to you and I.  We are capable.  We truly do have it in us to overcome our fears, and their sources, when God is at our center.

Think about that.  Are you willing to move the feelings of fear out of your mind and, by whatever means necessary, determinedly put God back in at your center?  Will you take appropriate measures to become disposed to habitually choosing God over fear?  Are you willing to trust that you are fully capable of directing Will and Put?  Will you choose to live a life determined to trust God no matter what fear makes you feel?  Will you put fear where it belongs…in the periphery of your life and not at your center?

God knows you can.  He gave you Will and Put to help you do just that.

“‘Hear Me, My people, and I will warn you–if you would only listen to Me, Israel!  You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than Me.  I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt.  Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.'”  Psalm 81:8-10