Day 8: A Rock and A Hard Place

"What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me." Psalms 56:3-4

If I have not made it immensely clear yet, fear is not a sin. The Bible is full of fearful characters who were greatly used by God. It's when we clamor up and separate ourselves from God's work that it becomes a sin. "The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe." Proverbs 29:25 Our first instinct during times of uncertainty should be to, as this psalmist puts it, trust in the Lord. Seeking God and living by His provision is a positive way to make sure you are in the proper place for the right reasons.

Aron Ralston met maybe one of the most terrifying moments of his life as he went out to hike one day. He took his normal paths and routines but it took one loose boulder to completely change the course of his life. The boulder fell and stuck his arm between a cavern wall and this giant rock. He was immediately fearful that he would have to cut his arm off. Knowing the kind of pain and loss he would have to entail he spent 127 hours trying every type of means he could to loosen his arm, with no success. Running low on food, his survival instincts allowed him to take his small, dull, pocket knife and cut his own arm off in order for him to survive. How hard of a task that had to have been. I couldn't even fathom it.

Many of us have never had to deal with such a fearful situation as having to do something like this, but we have had to run our minds through a situation where we are stuck between a rock and a hard place. When we have Christ, and we trust in Him during seasons of difficulty, the decision becomes very clear very quickly. We decide on the side of Christ, not fearing what the end will bring. Paul speaks about this to the church at Philippi in Philippians 1:23 he says, "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better."

Our desire should always be to choose Christ. When we choose Christ we can be confident that the choice is best for you and best for those that are affected by it.