Adam, you mentioned that God repeats many times “Do not be afraid” (or some other phrasing). I never thought that there could be more than one reason why it was repeated so many times. First, it is important to know. Second, “the person speaking must see that you are not responding appropriately” (95). I thought the second point was a great observation and so true. How many times does God tell us to not worry and we go ahead and do things our own way?

I love this book because I can apply it right now to my life. I have learned so much and am learning how to dissect my fears and get to the bottom of what is really going on inside of me. There are so many good points made that I can’t say them all.

Last but not least, “I want the Spirit to open my eyes so I can be thankful” (91). God does so much for me that I don’t always realize. I want to be thankful and aware of what he does for me.

There really are some very good thoughts here.

Later in chapter 5, Welch states that “we tend to judge God’s words by our own feelings and sensory observations…God’s self-revelation is a higher authority than our feelings.” Sometimes my feelings are so contrary to the truth presented in Scripture.

Chapter 7 hit me the hardest. “After-the-fact deliverances” hardly seem like good news. But this ties into the above two points: just because I don’t feel like “the goodness of our God is certain” doesn’t mean it’s not true. And in order to lay hold of the reality of that truth, it’s not enough to just do all the right things. It does me no good to pray or read the Bible or do all the good Christian things I’m supposed to do if I’m not growing closer to God himself.

I want to “watch and endure, not worry…I need the mind of Christ. I can do with nothing less.” I want Christ’s resurrection (the ultimate “after-the-fact deliverance”) to inform my perspective on my fears and worries, so that I can “grow to be an optimist by faith.”