How to deal with Fear: Loss

DEDICATE YOUR LIFE TO THE LORD

Commit your way to the LORD,

Trust also in Him,

And He shall bring it to pass.

PSALM 37:5

Having found our deepest delight in God, we realize that we must give all of our lives to Him. This isn’t a temporary commitment, a halfway intention, or the feeling of a moment. It’s a choice and a contract of the heart. As in marriage, we commit ourselves to that partnership for the rest of our lives.

How does committing to the Lord help us in times of material loss? In committing to Him, we cast all our burdens upon Him. He becomes our life—the place where we bring our problems, our joys, our marriages, our families, our careers. Life and happiness are no longer dependent on financial success or material possessions. It’s now all about Him.

The verse above ends with the phrase “And He shall bring it to pass.” When we trust Him, depend on Him, and respond to Him in faith, He will make our greatest dreams come true by elevating them from the material to the eternal.

God is also the answer when our losses leave us unable to help ourselves:

The helpless commits himself to You;

You are the helper of the fatherless.

PSALM 10:14

When we dedicate ourselves to God, helpless becomes a word without meaning. When we’ve lost our jobs, our houses, or our savings, and debt or bankruptcy stares us in the face, it’s as if we’re crushed under the weight of an enormous sack filled with every problem facing us. It’s a burden too heavy to bear. We can’t take another step. We can’t lift it—but God can. He gently says, “May I take that upon Myself? My shoulders are stronger.” As we say yes, life brightens and becomes joyful.

Cast your burden on the LORD,

And He shall sustain you;

He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

PSALM 55:22

[Cast] all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

1 PETER 5:7

Why keep struggling with your losses on your own? Why not give the burden to Him? Nothing could be more liberating.