Dr Paul Allen

His daughter was dying, and Jesus had been diverted. Jesus looked directly at him and said to Jairus, "Only believe"   This means shifting our focus from the size of your problem to the size of your faith in God. It is a practical choice to trust Jesus when you feel overwhelmed. 1. Identify and Name the Fear: Acknowledge the anxiety . Do not ignore your panic, stress, or doubt. Surrender it: Visually or mentally hand that specific problem over to God, admitting that you cannot fix it on your own.  2. Guard Your Atmosphere. Filter the noise: In the Bible story, Jesus removed the mocking, weeping crowd from the room before performing the miracle. Limit negative inputs: Step away from voices, media, or advice that breed panic and hopelessness. Seek encouragement: Surround yourself with people who speak life, hope, and faith into your situation.  3. Replace "What-Ifs" with God's Word. Stop the spiral: When your mind starts inventing worst-case scenarios, intentio...

  Ecclesiastes 11 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. (Eccl. 11:9–10) Ecclesiastes is bold. It deconstructs us, and it reconstructs us. It frees us from any dreamy idealism that would run smack into the brick wall of harsh reality. But it also frees us from any grim cynicism that would keep us miserably half-alive. Ecclesiastes declares our freedom to live real life, in this real world, vigorously and confidently under the smile of God. Which puts our feet on the path of profound holiness. And if you ask me, freedom of heart to live, really live, is the change we most need here in our time. We forsook idealism long ago. What hurts us now is the opposite. We have grown numb to lofty grandeur, ...