We live in troubling times. Many today wrestle with anxiety.  It’s no wonder. From the swift rise of ISIS to the Ebola outbreak. Terror attacks in Paris to the violence in Ferguson. Our struggling economy to the breakdown of the nuclear family. There’s no shortage in the world of things to worry about. The temptation to be anxious looms large.

That’s why I’m doing a 21 Day Watch, starting Monday, March 16th.  I want to overcome fear with faith.  John Wesley believed it was important to remain on the lookout for God’s work all around him and encouraged his early followers to practice the “discipline of watching.”  I’m devoting the next 21 days to keeping watch.  Daily, I’ll be on the lookout for encouragement from signs of God at work.  I hope you’ll join me.

Here are three ways I’m asking for God to Open My Eyes:  

1. Open my eyes to God’s WORD.  I find it helps to take my fears and get alone with God. Before I read, I ask Him to reveal promises in His Word that relate to my concerns.  As one friend says, “I glance at the problem, but gaze on God’s promise.” God’s Word ignites faith, and faith is the antidote to fear. My simple prayer:  Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. Psalm 119:18.

2. Open my eyes to God’s WORK.  When traveling through a Syrian refugee camp recently, I saw God’s work, up close and personal. You won’t see this story in the news, but God is doing amazing things in dangerous places. Several refugees even shared they had seen Jesus in dreams and visions! Though many had lost everything, their faces were alive with new hope. Their joyous faith put my fears to rest.  If God can work in a war zone, surely He can deal with our daily problems.

3. Open my eyes to the BIG PICTURE.  God is not caught off guard by recent world events.  Nor is He sitting on the sidelines wringing His hands.  Check out this example from the Bible of God’s heavenly power:  When an enemy army surrounded the prophet Elisha in battle,  the prophet calmed his terrified young assistant with these words. “Don’t be afraid,” he told him. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”  Then Elisha prayed, O LORD, open his eyes and let him see! The LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire (2 Kings 6:8-17 NIV). Let’s pray for angel armies to assist God’s servants in dangerous places.  Be encouraged as you reflect on the countless invisible warriors doing God’s work throughout the world.