It's easy to be content when things in life are going your way. But how often does that happen? The Bible says we are to practise being "happy at any time in everything" (Philippians 4:12 NCV), because if you put your life on hold waiting for what you want to happen, you may be waiting a long time! Epicurus said, "Don't spoil what you have, by desiring what you don't have. Remember that what you now have was once among the things you hoped for."

Three things constantly feed our discontentment: (1) Greed. When you dwell on what you don't have, you're not enjoying what God's already given you. Be satisfied! Setting goals is good, but stop focusing so hard on the end result and learn to rejoice in the Lord while you're on your way. (2) Fear. It wants you to run from something that's not chasing you. It's the enemy's way of (a) robbing you of peace and stability; (b) tormenting you with the 'what if's'; (c) keeping you from trusting God. The Psalmist said, "In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?" (Psalm 56:4 NIV). (3) Seeking satisfaction in the wrong places. God said, "My people have… forsaken… the… living water, and… dug… broken cisterns that cannot hold water" (Jeremiah 2:13 NIV). It's said that we spend our first 50 years searching for security, and the rest of our lives looking for significance. But we don't have to. One hymn writer wrote, "Now none but Christ can satisfy; no other name for me. There's love, life, and lasting joy, Lord Jesus found in Thee!"

"The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"1

Yesterday we talked about fears that cause us to lack trust. Today I want to share how I faced and overcame my deeply buried fear (terror) and learned to trust and love again. (To read yesterday's Daily Encounter, go to www.actsweb.org and click on Encounter Archives in the left column). Today we want to discuss how to overcome fear/s and learn how to trust.

First, I acknowledged the fact that my fear was my problem. Had I blamed anyone else for it, I would have lost the greatest human love I've ever known.

Second, I was determined that, with God's help, I wouldn't allow my fear to control me. And, by the way, if we don't acknowledge our fear and "own" it, it will control us one way or another—usually unconsciously, such as being very angry and defensive when we are afraid, setting ourselves up to fail, looking for love in the wrong places, and avoiding many good opportunities, etc., etc.

Third, I asked God to help me get to the root cause/s of my fear and lead me to the help I needed to overcome it. Every day I committed and trusted my life and way to God, and I often quoted the psalm of David who, when King Saul was hunting him down to kill him, said, "The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

Fourth, I shared my struggles with my closest friends whom I knew wouldn't tell me to just "get over it" or tell me that I wasn't trusting God or offer various other bits of over-simplistic, insensitive and useless, unsolicited advice.

Fifth, I got into two years of very intensive counseling with in-depth therapy. It wasn't easy (in fact it was very challenging), but with God's help, the professional counseling, and the loving support of understanding friends, I made it just fine.

Because I never learned to trust as a child, I had to learn it as an adult. As I stepped out of my comfort zone, admitted my problem to God, to supporting friends, and a helpful counselor, and found that they loved and accepted me anyhow, little by little I learned to trust and love.

Fears are real. I know. The apostle Paul did too, otherwise why would God have sent an angel to him when he was in prison to tell him to "fear not?" He knew he wasn't going to get out alive and was undoubtedly scared to death even though he was also trusting God.

According to one Bible scholar, there are 350 "fear nots" in the Bible—one for every day of the year. Obviously God understands our struggle with fear and lack of trust.

I think it was General George Washington who said to his soldiers when they had to cross the Potomac River with their rifles and battle gear in hand, "Trust God but keep your powder dry!" In other words, acknowledge and own your fears. Trust God and accept responsibility and seek the help you need to overcome them. The only people that God or anyone else can help are those who admit and say, "I have a problem. I need help."

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you that you understand me and my fears (and all my weaknesses). Please give me the courage to see and admit my fears, and lead me to the help I need to overcome them so that I can learn to trust and love again. And in the words of another, 'Oh God, don't let me die without having fully lived and fully loved.' Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Loose Lips."

The war's over but loose lips still sink ships. Well, actually they sink relationships, and reputations, people's trust, and people's sense of worth, and closeness.

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Proverbs 18:21 - sobering words, "The tongue has the power of life and death." Things we say can literally bring emotional life to people or emotional death. You've experienced both. People's words that made you feel more alive; people's words that made you feel like you were dying inside. That's the kind of power your words have. And if we let some wrong words spill out, like a GI carelessly spilling his destination, we can do some terrible - sometimes irreparable damage.

Proverbs, this great book of down-home, real-life wisdom from God, identifies some of the kinds of loose lips that sink ships. Listen with an open heart for a moment would you? It may be that one of these has been coming out of your mouth lately, and God wants to stop it before it does any more damage.

Here's one: "A gossip separates close friends" (Proverbs 16:28). A relationship that was a good one gets tragically poisoned and alienated by a gossiping tongue - talking about a person behind their back, spreading bad things about someone. It's cheap, it's careless, it's malicious maybe unintentionally, but it is still malicious. It sinks closeness. It sinks trust between people. I need to know that my name is safe when I'm out of the room if you're in the room.

Proverbs 17:9 says, "He who covers an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends." There's that separation thing again. You've got two choices when someone hurts you or offends you. Overlook it and move on. That promotes love. Or tell someone else about what happened, which promotes alienation and distance between people.

Reckless words also do a lot of damage. The Bible says, "Reckless words pierce like a sword" (Proverbs 12:18). The unthinking words that spill out on someone when we're angry or not getting our way or we just feel hurt. The thrust of the verbal sword takes only an instant, but the wound it leaves can last for years.

Have your lips been too loose lately? It's time for the prayer of David in Psalm 141:3, "Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." Ask God's forgiveness for those damaging words. Maybe you need to ask for forgiveness of someone you've hurt with those words and then regularly go to God for the self-control to keep those damaging words to yourself.

Chandler had a bad dream once. He dreamed I was a "big, hungry, giant, bad dinosaur." When I asked him what I was doing in his dream he said with a smile that didn't make me feel any better about this, "You were eating me!"

Except for the alarming nature of the idea itself, he didn't give me any reason to be concerned. It wasn't something that woke him up in the middle of the night and had him running to his mother for comfort. He didn't appear to lose any sleep over it, and the telling of it was more amusing to him than anything.

This is all pretty much in keeping with what I've experienced with my two older children, who, when I would get really mad at them, would not be able to keep themselves from laughing. It must be something about me when I get really upset that makes me appear irresistibly funny. (My wife says it's the veins that pop out on my forehead when my face turns red.) Of course I take this as lack of respect, which makes me even madder, and apparently, that much funnier. And when I turn to my wife for help, I usually get the same treatment. She bursts out laughing too. I'm convinced they are in cahoots over this.

Well, for years I assumed this was a conspiracy to undermine my authority. What happened to the good old days when Dad was feared and respected? When we tiptoed around him like being on a fault line that could erupt any minute and shake our world to bits?

Is that what authority is -- a raging bull (or in this case… dinosaur)? Well I am beginning to realize it isn't. Authority has a lot more to do with being responsible than it does with being angry or demanding respect. Authority is not something you bull your way into; it's something you earn. And when you have it, you don't have to demand it. Jesus had it -- had the ultimate authority of God Himself -- and He never lorded over anyone. In fact, He used His authority to serve. He needed nothing, so He could give everything He had.

Not that children shouldn't learn to respect their parents. Honoring your father and mother is one of the Ten Commandments. It's just that you don't force respect. That only makes you look like a big bad dinosaur, and if those you are trying to impress don't have the luxury of laughing in your face, you can bet they are laughing behind your back.