Is is okay to feel afraid?

I am AFRAID.  Lord, I’m afraid and I don’t know what to do.

Is it okay to even say this?  Growing up in my Christian faith I was taught that to acknowledge that you are afraid was a sign of weakness or lack of trust on God.  However, I found that during the times that I was afraid and cried out to God those were the times that I found comfort in Him.  Not only did I find peace and comfort during such difficult times but they were followed by amazing blessings.

So why tell someone that you can’t feel such emotions?  Even Jesus was afraid when He felt the separation from God before His death.  Actually all the great men and women of God in the bible were afraid at some point or another but placed their trust on God knowingly that somehow or in some way He was in control and would make all things, regardless of how difficult they could be, work out for the good of those who placed their trust in Him.

I like looking up the meaning of words because I like to feel the impact of what God tries to say to us, so I decided to look up the word TRUST and this is what I found;

Trust

1. Reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

2.

Confident expectation of something; hope.

So after reading this definition just think about what you say when you state that you are trusting God;

I am placing my reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety of God and to have the confident expectation that He will work all things for my benefit and not for my harm.

Here’s a reality check, are you ready to hear this???  God didn’t create you to be perfect or to be a machine that is incapable of feeling emotion.  He created us to be happy and also to fear and thru fear to learn how to place our complete dependence on Him.  Once we do this He comes and shows us that He knows our wants and needs and is always willing to provide regardless of our situations. 

Best of all He doesn’t do this because we deserve it; He does it because He loves us!

"

Psalm 18:2 (New King James Version)

 ² The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
         My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
         My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.