I recently heard a pastor of a large church in California say that he preferred Isaiah over David concerning the trust/fear issue.  In his prophecy, Isaiah said (12.2), ‘I will trust, and will not be afraid’.  In Psalm 56.3, when seized by the Philistines in Gath, David said, ‘What time I am afraid, I will trust in You.’ (I love this KJV version and how it does not say just ‘whenever/some undetermined time/whenever I am afraid’ – rather, it is ‘what time’/a specific time.  God knew there would be precise fearful times for us – and it is those specific times, even in fear, based on our relationship with Him that He gives us the ability to trust Him.)

The pastor said that he would rather be counted with Isaiah and those who trust, first.  Hmm-mm-m-m-m . . .   David was seized by those who wanted his life.  I was just thinking that if I were car-jacked at gun point and someone was going to take not only my car, but my life, my first thought would probably not be thinking about trusting; I’d be going straight to fear.  I was in a wooded area in Maine many years ago strawberrying with one of my young sons when I heard a terrifying sound.  My son had no idea what the sound was and thus couldn’t understand why we would have to leave such a beautiful patch of strawberries.  But having grown up in Maine, I knew that was the sound of a She-Bear with one or more cubs.  My heart pounded as I went straight to ‘fear’ first – and then prayed us all the way back to the car.

If I walk into a room and unexpectedly see a centipede, a cockroach, ant, or spider, I shriek in fear (with the last one mentioned sending me into a potential cardiac arrest)!  I don’t know that I even think of the concept of ‘trust’ with this situation.  With the ability to reason and think which God also gave us, I grab a shoe, or a spray – or a person! – to rid me of the varmint.  (By the way, I would like to be as some of you who would pick the creature up and put it outside.  Just can’t do it.  Sorry!)

That was my David-side – ‘afraid and then, trusting’ . . .

Though I have many, I will relate just one short story of my Isaiah-side of ‘trusting first, and not being afraid’. . .    Several years ago in the middle of the night, twenty-some of us were forced off a bus in ‘no-man’s land’ in an area between Romania and the Republic of Moldavia.  We were each to find and remove our own luggage from under the bus, and then stand away from the bus while soldiers from the Rep. of Moldavia searched the vehicle.  I stood by myself watching as the soldiers thoroughly ‘combed’ the inside – and then crawled on top of the bus examining every square inch.  The underneath of the bus was not neglected either.  Not speaking the language, I could only guess what information a soldier in charge was needing from me.  I knew it had something to do with artwork and smuggling and tried the best I knew how to convey my innocence of the whole ordeal.  Sounds frightening, doesn’t it?  But this was perhaps one of my finest ‘Isaiah 12.2’ moments.  My heart was not racing.  My mind wasn’t even racing.  As I looked up to the heavens in the middle of the dark, starry night I had such confidence (trust) in the One Who created me – and Whom I just knew would preserve me.  Not another soul in the world I knew either in Romania, or family or friends in America knew what I was experiencing, but I sensed such a peace and comfort not from that God ‘way out there beyond the stars’, but the One Who lived in my heart and flooded me with Himself.  There really seemed to be no room – not a bit of room for fear in my heart . . .

Philippians 4.7 – ‘And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus’.  And I love John 14.27 – ‘Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, do I give to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, nor fearful’.

I absolutely love both David and Isaiah – both of whom I cannot wait to meet in Heaven one day.  I will tell them of how I learned from both – and could even to a point, identify with them.  Most of all, I would want to tell them how I better loved God, my Creator, Sustainer and Lover of my Soul through the reading of their accounts with their relationships with the Most High God.  Yes, sometimes I trust first – and sometimes I fear first.  It is my heart’s desire to always grow until the day I see Him face to face, but until then, I am always confident that the Lord loves and accepts me right where I am.