Letting Go of Fear to Trust in God’s Timing

By Jessica Brodie

Have you ever clung to a long-held dream for so long you despair it will never happen?

I’ve been a bookworm my whole life. My mom says when I was a toddler I’d bring book after book, drop them in her lap and gaze mournfully into her eyes, begging, “Mommy, read.” Thankfully, as her oldest—and as my sister wasn’t yet born, her only child—Mommy complied.

My first toy I can remember was my mom’s old typewriter. She let me bang on those keys to my heart’s content as I pretended to write stories on invisible paper.

She says I learned to read when I was two years old (probably so I could read all those books on my own instead of patiently waiting to be read to!).

I’ve been writing bad poetry, plays, and short stories since grade school and spent my weekends and nights with my nose in a book. I majored in journalism in college, got my master’s in English literature, and have been a professional writer since I was 21, which is also around the time I completed my first full-length novel.

And yet, 24 years later, while I’ve been published in magazines, newspapers, devotionals, anthologies, and more, as well as helped other writers reach their publishing dreams, I still can’t call myself a “published author” when it comes to my fiction.

Have I been discouraged about this in the past? Absolutely! Am I discouraged now? Not in the least.

For I’ve learned to trust in God’s perfect timing, and He’s been whispering encouragement my way: It’s coming. Almost there.

And I believe in my God, the God of all creation.

See, God put a vision into my heart about the two most recent Christian contemporary novels I’ve written, and I know He has a big plan for them. I did the work—now I need to trust Him to clear the path when the time is right.

He’s also laid a vision on my heart for the next book, which I’m writing now and am super-excited about.

But sometimes it’s not so easy to trust in God’s timing. Sometimes, a goal we have in mind is our own dream but not God’s plan, and it fizzles. Sometimes it is God’s plan, but even though God’s whispering encouragement in our ears, the evil one is shouting negativity and wild words of doubt, and we haven’t learned to close our ears to his lying noise to focus only on God.

Fear sets in: Will it never happen? Maybe I should quit. Maybe I’m not “good enough.”

But God is far bigger than fear. God overpowers fear. God conquers fear and sends it right back to the pit from which it came.

In an article I read recently by United Methodist pastor Dr. Mark E. Thompson, “Letting Go of Fear,” he said, “It’s the hardest thing to remember: that someone else’s rejection of us is not the standard by which God measures us or by which we should measure ourselves.”

God has His own measuring stick, His own plans for us. He sees the big picture.

And when we are in alignment with God and His plans, everything is right and peaceful. Waiting becomes a joy of anticipation. Right now, I feel like a bride eagerly counting down the days to my happily-ever-after, for I know God has something big in store—not because I deserve it, but because He showed me, and because I’m committed to shining His glory (not mine).

I look back now and am so glad He made me wait for my dream to become reality. I would have been too immature, too worldly, too full of self. Now I’m bathed in the light of Christ, which is all I crave—His glory, His fruition, His plans, not my own.

If you are in a place of waiting today for a dream you desperately crave, take heart. First, relax the desperation and rest in peace knowing that God’s plans always prevail. Second, know that His timing is always best. We don’t know the full situation, but He does.

And third, tuck these Bible verses into your heart:

“I know that You can do all things; no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” Job 42:2 NIV
“For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?” Isaiah 14:27 NIV
“Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 NIV
“For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” Philippians 2:13 NIV
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 NIV

Have a beautiful day, friends, and rest assured in the knowledge that God will take care of everything. All you need to do is trust Him, love Him, and put Him first.