Delete the App!: Putting away apprehension

Isaiah 26:3 ESV “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

I was thinking about my good friend, Tom Griffith the other day and remembering nuggets of wisdom he shared with me. Tom passed away a few years ago, but the years I had the opportunity to know him, Tom was faithful to be a listening ear, of course share his thoughts and at times helping me in a pinch when needed. Tom was not a very excited person in nature. This wasn’t a bad thing. He was simply even keel. One speed. Meat and potatoes. Even when as our church treasurer he shared the good news about the finances, you could not tell by his voice tone or body actions. After a few years it became a church family chuckle.

One day Tom stopped by my office for a visit. That happened often as he was retired and had the time to come in and drink coffee. We would talk about his stocks, his family and other things in his vanilla flavored life. During one of these conversations Tom was listening to me vent about some of my frustrations. Well maybe more like apprehensions. As I shared, I assume I kept using the two words, “What if.” Finally, Tom looked at me and said in his not so excited voice, “Pastor, what if the refrigerator jumped out and fell on you?” I stared at him with a puzzled expression trying to see in my mind’s eye what it looked like to have a refrigerator fall on you. Ouch! To have a big refrigerator fall on you is one thing but to have it jump out at you and then tackle you? That is demonic!

We laughed, but I got the point. When I allow apprehension to rule my heart, I am waiting for everything bad to happen. If I get a phone call from a number I do not know… Oh no! Who could that be and what do they want? If someone scheduled a meeting with me that I was not expecting my first thought would be, “What did I do?”. I think you get the picture. Apprehension is the fear that something unpleasant will happen to you. When this gets ahold of you, your whole perspective changes. You begin to see that the glass isn’t just half empty, the glass is going to be empty, and you will have no water at all. And then will where the water come from?

So, what do we need to do when apprehension comes calling and we walk by refrigerators cautiously? We need to delete the app. Change our way of thinking and turn to truth to replace the fear of something happening that percentage wise most likely won’t happen anyway. I get it. When things go bad it is often in seasons. We wonder if the season will ever stop and before long, we expect it to keep going. After all, this only happens to me we say to ourselves. It is not like we do not believe what the Bible says, we simply are having trouble seeing if the Bible is applicable to our situation. Of course it is, but let’s be honest, our feelings may totally be based on a lie, but they feel, real!

Our scripture in this devotion reminds us where to put our minds… not on the refrigerator, but God, His Word, His ways. When we do, we can delete the apprehension and find peace. Perfect peace. Whoa! Perfect? Peace? I know, but let’s look at where this verse comes from. Isaiah is looking into the future Millennial reign of Christ. With Him in charge during this time, perfect peace is not a dream, but a reality. But from this future look, we can also see the character of God now. This same Savior, King and Lord lives within us. In our hearts Christ rules. Well, at least that is the plan. The perfect peace comes when we decide who is going to be in charge. Apprehension or Jesus? We decide. Delete the app or keep being addicted to apprehension.

When I was venting to my friend Tom, perfect peace was not my decision. I was looking to complain, murmur and guess what, be apprehensive about everything. My choice was get on the app, get anxious and lose my peace. Through the years I have not forgotten the question, “What if?” that made the valid point from my friend. It has taken a few seasons of application, trust and yes, some therapy sessions. But through it all, God has proven himself to be faithful. He has shown me no matter what I go through I belong to Him. I know I am secure. My focus is not on my happiness, but now on my joy and yes peace that I have in Him when I decide to delete the App. No more fear of refrigerators if you can believe that.