How to Handle Fear | The Deep End

Hey everyone, welcome to the Deep End. My name is Arturo and today we're talking about fear. It's not the funnest subject, but hopefully we're not talking about it for too long. What I hope that you walk away from this encouraged to consider is that where there is fear, there's another side to the fear, another side to the scary situations that you're going to inevitably walk through in life. Psalm 23 verse 4 says, though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil because you are with me. And unfortunately, that's a King saying that they will walk through a dark valley. So it's not a matter of if you do, it's a matter of when you do. But notice that in that verse, he's declaring that he has no reason to fear because there is a God, there is a Father that is with him. And so what I want to introduce today is a coin, which you know how these go, there's two sides to it, right? When we talk about fear, I want to encourage you to consider how fear is just one side of a coin. And like any good coin, there is another side to it. And the other side to that reality of fear, a scary situation, is that God is with you. God's with me, no matter the situation. And if we could understand that a little bit more day after day, then we could know that despite the scary situations that we find ourselves in, because we're going to, to make the habit of knowing that there is no reason to fear because there is a God that wants to be with you and is with you. Now, if you're like me, it's going to take some work to get to that point. And so we need to work on creating that habit. If this is the first time you've heard it, habits take some time to establish and create in our daily rhythms. They say, I think it takes about 40 days to really create a habit. And so this is going to take some work. Now, I don't know if you're in the midst of a hard situation right now, but if you are,

you certainly have a place to practice right now, right? It's whenever you think about that fear, you know, the additional challenge is to say it out loud, but certainly it's okay if it's at least in your head, but whenever the moment comes where you're thinking about a situation and going, this is, this is a little scary. Do not walk away from that thought. Do not walk away from saying that without finishing that by saying the other truth on the other side of that fear. On the other side of that scary situation is not having to fear this evil because there is a God that is with me. So whenever you are thinking about that scary situation, whenever it starts to creep in and it comes suddenly, sometimes you don't even, you don't even know that it's just creeping up on you and suddenly it's there in your head. Don't walk away from it, confess out loud or in your head. I have no reason to fear this because there is a God that is with me. The more you practice that, man, some weird phenomenon could happen where you almost get excited to say, you know what? This is scary. Yeah, I feel you creeping in, but I have no reason to fear you because there is a God that wants to be and is with me. Create that habit. It's going to help. It's going to help not just the current situation that you're, you're, you're dreading when it comes to your head, you're dreading because the day is approaching when man, all is going to be said and done about that situation. You create this habit now, man, for the rest of your days, you're just going to know that for whatever might come up, there is no reason to fear because there is a God that is with you. Now, I want to give you some advice. It's going to be a lot easier to make that a habit and to trust that there is a God that's there with you.

If you recognize who God might be for you, here's an example. Whenever I step into a dark room with my daughter, I know she's going to be afraid whether she says it out loud or not, just, I know her. And so usually what I'm going to find myself saying is, Hey, Hey, don't be afraid. I'm right here with you. You don't got to worry about nothing. I'm right here with you. She recognizes me as her father. She knows whose voice. is telling her not to be afraid. And so it's going to be a little easier for her to come to a place of trusting I have nothing to fear because my father is here with me. Now, could you imagine the same scenario but there being a stranger with my daughter in the room? Somebody with a loud, booming voice letting her know the same thing. Don't be afraid. You have no reason to fear anything. I am here with you. Best case scenario, she's going, OK, there's at least someone else in this dark room with me suggesting I have nothing to fear. OK, maybe I could trust that. Worst case scenario, it causes more confusion, more chaos, more fear. Who are you? I don't even know who you are telling me that I have no reason to fear any of the evil that is in this dark room with me.

And it gets worse. So what I want to invite you to do if you haven't done it before or if this is a good time for you to just remind God of the fatherhood that he wants to have with us, that's what I want to walk you through right now, a prayer that simply says, God, you are my father. I'm going to walk into dark places in this life. And I want you as a father to let me know I'm not alone. And I want to recognize I am your son. I am your daughter. I have nothing to fear because my father is with me. And so I'm going to walk through that prayer. And then hopefully, hopefully, as you continue to encounter hard, scary, hairy situations, you can know a little bit. Hopefully, you could walk into these situations with an established habit of knowing that while you are in a scary situation, there's nothing to fear because your father is with you. So I'm going to pray that now. God, I recognize you as my father. And I want you to know right here right now that I want to be your son. I want to be your daughter. Forgive me, God, because the way I was living life was apart from your ways, was not heading in your direction. I recognize that you sent your son to live a perfect life, to die and rise again, to make a way for me to be with you forever. And I'm sorry because I haven't been walking in that direction.

But I choose right now to renounce where I was going and to announce where I'm headed, towards you, towards my father. I have nothing to fear in this life because I want to know today and the next day a little bit more. You are my father. I am your son. I am your daughter. I thank you for your son Jesus's life. And I thank you because through it, I can be forever with you. Amen. If you prayed that for the first time, man, I am hoping that the next time you run into that scary situation, you can know that there is a father, not a stranger, in that situation with you. You have nothing to fear. And that this was a much needed reminder that there is a father with you. And I hope the same for you. I'll see you out there. Thanks for watching The Deep End. I'm Chuck Mingo, one of the pastors at Crossroads. And we would love to come alongside you. If you have a prayer request or you want to reach out to Crossroads, you can do that at prisons at crossroads.net. You can also find that information on our page on the Pando app. And we would love to come alongside of you

if you're looking for re-entry support. You can email reentry at the47.org. We would love to come alongside you in that way. Let me pray for you. God, thank you for the person who is watching right now. I thank you that you know them, you see them, and you are for them. And we are for them at Crossroads. And I pray, God, that they would sense that. I pray for joy. I pray for peace. And I pray that they would be able to walk in your power in a unique and fresh way. In Jesus' name, amen.