She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. Proverbs 31:25 NLT
Fear of the unknown, specifically the unknown future, is said to be mankind’s greatest fear. I can believe it. It’s always been that. That’s why over and over we fall prey to fortune-tellers, soothsayers, card-dealers, false prophets, Ouija boards, and more. It’s why we are fascinated with prophecy, often rightly so, and we love friends who have an intuitive sense, hoping they can “feel” something right for us. This fear at least figures in why we frequently wonder if dreams are telling us something. It’s our one and only life, so we are consumed that it goes well for us and those we love. Even though we realize there have to be some hard times, if we just know when and how they will come, we feel better able to handle it.
But despite all our desires, specifics of the future are above our paygrade. Therefore, we can either be paralyzed by fear, or work through our fears in faith. The woman described in Proverbs 31 was no different than we are today. She lived in a difficult time, she had a family with all the concerns that go with that, financial issues, everything that we know. But she was not fragile and frazzled. She was able to enjoy life without trying to control everything, and she laughed without fear of the unknown future.
Mary was raised as an ordinary Jewish girl with the reading of the Old Testament scrolls in the synagogue. She was regularly exposed to the reading and, even more, to the oral tradition of passing on the Scriptures in her home. She was raised righteously and was faithful and virtuous. She knew about trusting God. She would have learned about and emulated the Proverbs 31 woman.
Yet the visit of God’s messenger telling her that she, a virgin, was going to be pregnant and bear a son left her confused and disturbed. There weren’t many specifics given, and she asked, “How can this be?” (Luke 1:34 NLT). She still didn’t get many details. There was no way she could have fathomed what lay ahead of her in any case. But Mary took a deep breath, listened to God’s message, and responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true” (Luke 1:38 NLT).
To face the unknown future without fear and with joy, we must know God’s voice and trust His choices. We will never be completely free of fear, but we must be able to talk to God and follow wherever He leads. To do that, we must recognize when God is speaking. To do that, we do what Mary did. We spend time with God on ordinary days, and His voice grows more familiar, and we become braver.
- Spend time with God today and every day – not just talking. Listen. Expect Him to speak.