"Faith is the refusal to panic"

I have recently been reading aloud a devotional book on courage with my youngest son. I was so struck by the story of Catharine duBois, who lived in the 1600's in what is now the state of New York. Her courageous faith in a horrific crisis continues to inspire her family today. One of her descendants wrote this account of Catharine:

"One day in 1663, Minisink Indians swept down from the Catskill Mountains, killed several inhabitants of the little settlement now known as New Paltz, New York, and took a number of women and children captive. Among them were Catharine deBois and her infant daughter, Sara. For ten weeks they were held captive in the mountains while search parties looked for them in vain.

Certain they had avoided reprisals, the Indians decided to celebrate their success by burning Catharine and Sara. A pile of logs was arranged, upon which the bound mother and daughter were placed.

A most human response at this moment would have been for Catharine to scream at her tormentors, curse them for her suffering, or even curse God. Instead, she burst into song, turning the foreboding Catskill forest into a cathedral of praise.

The Minisink Indians, of course, had not asked her for a song, but they were now so captivated with Catharine's singing that they demanded another song, then another, and then still another. And while she sang, her husband, Louis, and his search party burst upon the scene and rescued her.

Catharine could not have known that her decision about how to die would tell her succeeding generations much about how they should live. Nor can we know how some decision today will affect generations to come." (Gilbert V. Beers)

Wow! The great Welsh preacher, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, once declared, "Faith is the refusal to panic." If ever there was a situation that called for panic, that was surely it! But faith refuses to panic and instead chooses to trust and entrust oneself to the sovereign Lord. Faith chooses praise instead of panic. Faith chooses prayer instead of panic. Faith chooses peace in Christ rather than panic in the circumstances. We simply cannot choose our circumstances any more than we can choose our eye color or our (original) hair color.

But we can always always always choose our response. We can choose praise or panic, faith or fear, worship or worry. And isn't it amazing that the praise songs Catharine chose in what she knew were the last moments of her life were the very means God used for her deliverance?! Such is the power of praise! God commands us over and over again in His Word to "be joyful always," "in everything give thanks," "give thanks in all circumstances," and on and on. Why? Well, ultimately because He tells us to and because, as Paul tells us, "Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (I Thess. 5:18)

But beyond the command and the will of God, there is the mystery that praise exerts a supernatural power that we simply cannot explain. Haven't you had the experience of feeling overwhelmed or irritated or frightened and when you consciously chose to thank and praise God--even if through clinched teeth!--your attitude and your spirit were almost miraculously changed? I confess that far too often, I choose to indulge in my pity party or fear feast, with the result that I am not changed for the good, God is not glorified, and the circumstances are not improved one iota! O, but when we choose praise, it proves to be a golden bridge taking us from where we are stuck in panic or sorrow or misery to a place of peace and joy and security--even if our circumstances remain unaltered.

O Lord, help us to choose praise and gratitude even in the midst of the storms of our lives, and in so doing, live out our faith that refuses to panic. We cannot do this--but You can, through Your Spirit that lives within us. So to You be the glory.