God has Compassion Upon Your Anxious Heart

Welcome back!

Today we will be continuing our discussion on all the facets of victory in a Christian's life.  Specifically, how God has compassion upon your anxious heart, and the way the Lord WILL encourage you and give you ultimate victory.

For a recap of this impromptu series about victory in the Christian life, you can read the first three installments which are Driving out the Canaanites in My Life, a post where you will find Biblical strategies for defeating sin in your life which you can read about HERE; When Victory in the Christian Life doesn't Seem So Victorious, a post where you will find encouragement that even if circumstances look dark and hopeless, God is working and you WILL have victory which you can read about HERE, and How to be a Team Player which focuses on the impact our individual spiritual victories have when we become a team player for the Kingdom of God which you can read about HERE..

God has Compassion Upon Your Anxious Heart for His Glory

For a Biblical example of how God has compassion upon your anxious heart, we will be looking at the manner in which the Lord addressed fear in the story of Gideon.

The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’  Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.

That same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand.  But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with 

Purah your servant.  And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.”

Judges 7:2-3;9-11

In earlier books of the Old Testament, we might find God displeased with those who seemed afraid.  Moses comes to mind when He refused to be God's spokesperson and God used Moses brother Aaron instead.

But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past

 or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” And the 

LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD?…

Exodus 4:10-11

Yet here in the story of Gideon, we see the Lord giving those who were fearful a pass.  The Lord used a human weakness to show Himself strong to Israel in order to avoid them boasting about a victory because of their numbers.  The Lord knew the fearful hearts of those in the army and as we see, that was the quickest way to shave down their numbers.

Even my "previous eyes" reading through the Old Testament saw Gideon's God in a compassionate light when He allowed those who were fearful to go back home.  (I've mentioned in previous posts that only this recent read through of the Old Testament am I seeing the Lord in a loving, patient, merciful, compassionate light where my first read throughs of the Old Testament, I saw Him in a harsher light.)

The Lord used those who suffered with an anxious heart for His perfect purposes and to bring Himself Glory.  In my opinion it was a win win!  For both God and those who were afraid!  😉
And indeed He will have compassion upon your anxious heart for His Glory.

    God has Compassion Upon Your Anxious Heart to Speak Victory Over Your Life

That same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand.  But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with 

Purah your servant.  And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.”

Judges 7:2-3;9-11

In the above portion of Judges 7, I was most taken by how the Lord showed compassion on Gideon's anxious heart by acknowledging that if he was afraid, he and his servant could go down and listen at the Midianite camp, where God indicated that what they would here would strengthen their hands.

I'm sure it looked very daunting to Gideon when he went down to the Midianite camp where the abundance of Midianites looked like locusts, but he obeyed the Lord and did not allow what he was seeing to discourage him from hearing what the Lord told him to listen for.   Once in the camp, Gideon listened and heard the telling of a dream and its interpretation which described Gideon's victory over the Midianites.  Gideon worshiped God and had no fear as he planned his attack and indeed was victorious!

In this case, the Lord knew Gideon's fear and instead of rebuking it, He encouraged him by having compassion upon his anxious heart in the form of a proof of victory.

As a professional worrier, I often feel shame from my anxiety.  I know this is NOT something to be ashamed of as we have a history of anxiety disorders in our family, but nonetheless I can still feel ashamed.  Even though it may seem like I am not believing God, it is more how my brain and body operate under stress which causes my focus to go on the "what ifs" of Karen rather than the "I saids" of God.

I felt such comfort in reading about how the Lord bolstered Gideon's confidence, despite his fear, by sending a reassuring proof of what God said He would do.  It should have been enough that "God said so" to Gideon, but the Lord understood Gideon's fear and encouraged him through hearing the interpretation of the dream proclaiming Gideon's victory.  God had compassion upon Gideon's anxious heart.

I was also convicted, though, that there does still need to be a measure of obedience even within the context of an anxiety disorder.  In the example of Gideon, he would not enjoy the reassurance of what he heard unless he got past what he saw.

I'm reminded of someone else in Scripture who reacted to what he saw...

And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 

Matthew 14:28-32

Too often I look at the waves around me, the what ifs, and start to sink.   All I hear are the lies of Satan screaming through what I see and I am unable to hear the still small voice of God speaking to my heart reassurance and encouragement, showing compassion to my anxious heart.

{To read about how the Lord used the above verse from Matthew to draw me to a saving knowledge of Him you can read my posts Miss Goody Two Shoes Unabridged  HERE and Worry Wart HERE.}

{I wrote a blog post called Open My Eyes that I May See which shares my own personal journey with anxiety as well as a practical "ahh haa moment" insight for experiencing God's compassion upon your anxious heart which you can read HERE.}

You may also like to read:

4 Effective Truths to Preach to Your Anxious Heart

3 Biblical Ways to Diffuse Your Fear

If you find yourself in the same boat I'm in {pun intended 😉}, listen to the Lord with the ears of your heart, for indeed God has compassion upon your anxious heart and He WILL encourage you and give you ultimate victory.

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