「我愛妳，我絕不會離開妳！」茱莉保存了她丈夫寫給她的訊息，讓她在懼怕時可以重看這則訊息。童年的創傷使茱莉擔心自己會被親人拋棄。她經常向丈夫要求保證，也總是焦慮不安地等著丈夫下班回家。

禱告與輔導幫助茱莉以積極正面的態度看待她的懼怕。她說：「我會根據丈夫充滿愛意的承諾來正視自己的恐懼。我會想，他的承諾是真的！然後我就不會再胡思亂想。」

以色列王耶羅波安也有這種毫無根據的恐懼。由於所羅門王晚年背叛上帝，上帝便應許耶羅波安：「我必從他兒子的手裡將國奪回，以十個支派賜給你」（列王紀上11章35節）。上帝向他保證會將以色列民賜給他，只要他順服上帝（38節）。

但耶羅波安卻害怕百姓去了耶路撒冷，「在耶和華的殿裡獻祭，他們的心必歸向」猶大王羅波安（12章27節）。耶羅波安的恐懼驅使他另設拜偶像的丘壇，以免百姓轉向所羅門的兒子（26-33節）。結果耶羅波安受到上帝的審判（14章7-16節）。如果他能信靠上帝的應許，結果就不一樣了！

我們無須靠自己面對各種毫無根據的恐懼。上帝已經藉著聖經將祂的應許賜給我們，給了我們保證。期盼你我能讓上帝慈愛的真理照亮我們的心，也照亮我們的腳步。

“I love you. I’ll never leave you.” Julia saved her husband’s text message so she could read it whenever she was afraid. A troubled childhood had left her with a fear of loved ones abandoning her. She’d often ask for reassurance from her husband, and she would wait anxiously for him to come home from work. 

Prayer and counseling helped Julia respond to her fear in healthier ways. “I’d look at my fear in the light of my husband’s loving promises to me,” she says. “I’d think, His promises are true! and behave accordingly.”   

King Jeroboam also had unfounded fears. Because of Solomon’s apostasy, God had already promised Jeroboam, “I will take the kingdom from [David’s] son’s hands and give you ten tribes” (1 Kings 11:35). God assured him that if he obeyed Him, He would “give Israel to [him]” (v. 38). 

Yet Jeroboam was afraid. “If these people . . . offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem,” he thought, “they will . . . return to King Rehoboam” (12:27). His fear drove him to set up nearby sites of idol worship to prevent his subjects from turning to Solomon’s son (vv. 26-33). As a result, Jeroboam faced God’s judgment (14:7-16). If only he’d trusted God’s promises!  

We don’t have to deal with unfounded fears on our own. God has given us the safety of His promises in Scripture. Let’s allow His loving truths to illuminate our mind and steps.