Ditch Your Plan A (Anxiety) for Plan B (Belief)-Moses Did It, You Can Too

Moses spent 40 years running from fear before he ever heard from a burning bush.

And honestly? I think that's more relatable than we realize.

Because most of us don't leap from crippling anxiety straight into unshakeable trust in God. We wander through the fear territory first. We doubt. We run. We try to figure it out on our own — and we end up in Midian like Moses.

But here's what I love about Moses's story: it wasn't over. The learning territory came after the fear. And that's where something beautiful started to grow.

In this episode, I'm unpacking Moses's journey through three territories — Fear, Learning, and Growth — how you can move from Plan A (the anxious response) to a Plan B (the belief response).

Because automatic trust isn't a realistic goal for most of us. But a gentle redirect? That's something we can practice. 💛

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Transcript

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There’s an old story you may know about the man called Moses. If Moses’s story became a play, the drama would unfold in 3 Acts.

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Act 1, at age forty, Moses, considering himself wise, proposes to go from palace scholar to his people’s savior. How shall he do this? He makes his first move as he spots an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave. In a righteous act of anger, the palace prince killed the Egyptian and hid the evidence.

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The following day Moses makes a second move and interjects himself between two Hebrews disagreeing. But, the Hebrews reject Moses because in their eyes his form of justice included death. Moses thought he killed the Egyptian in secret, but it became public. So, in fear, Moses runs away to the region of Midian.

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At the end of Act 1 Moses has moved to the Territory of Fear. This brings us to Act 2.

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At age eighty, Moses is now a humble shepherd, married, and has a father-in-law who is a priest. A father-in-law who worships and sacrifices to the God of Abraham.

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It’s during Act 2, Moses becomes a shepherd and gains an essential understanding of the God of the Hebrews through his father-in-law. This is how Moses enters into personal Learning Territory.

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During the end of those shepherd years, God decides Moses is ready for Act 3. Moses’s new mission would come from a burning bush. A bush calling Moses to God’s presence. Act 3 of Moses’ life leads him to the Growth Territory.

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You know the rest of the story. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.

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Moses’s story is our story. Different decades of our lives represent transitions. New ways of being, thinking, and acting. It’s Act 3 of Moses’s life that is most intriguing to me. How did Moses get that close to God?

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Perhaps it was consistent interaction. Trust choices. A want to need God.

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Yes, Moses wanted to need God.

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Hebrews 11:6 says, “and it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him”. I see two keywords in that verse: belief and sincerity.

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Belief is a Hebrew word meaning to trust or entrust. The word describes the act of believing or trusting something or someone based on truthfulness and reliability.[1]

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Belief and trust are often used interchangeably. I trust God. I believe God for…. And trust is meaningless without sincerity.

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Moses consistently interacted with God because his belief in God was sincere. Moses anchored himself to God, chose to trust, as God revealed himself truthful and reliable. Moses chose to trust from a deep need for God.

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Moses didn’t just jump into a deep need for God. He had to navigate out of the fear territory into the learning territory.

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Getting to know God through his Word and prayer, consistent interaction, leads you away from a territory of fear or anxiety to the learning territory. It’s difficult to take a gigantic leap from invasive worry or intense anxiety to trust in God.

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In the learning territory, you practice trusting God, seeking to perceive his presence with you, whether in your heart, mind, or through his Word. This doesn’t happen overnight.

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You’ll trust and doubt. Trust and doubt. Is God with me? No. Maybe. Here’s where sincerity comes in. Stand firm in your belief despite what you can’t feel, hear, or understand. Stand firm and you will have a sincerity of belief in God.

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Now you’re ready for the big move. Sincerity is how you cross to the growth territory. As you recognize God with you, showing up, redirecting your thoughts, calming your heart, you learn the way God moves in your life. Your life. Your connection with God differs from another’s. You make more and more trust choices rather than choosing fear, anxiety, and worry.

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You believe you can wait on God for his movement and timing.

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And yes, you’ll have to keep choosing trust over and over and over. It’s not a one and done for most of us.

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I love God. He is my life. I’m in the Word. I study and research. And I still must deliberately choose trust over anxious thoughts.

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Don’t believe automatic trust is a realistic goal. What is realistic is a gentle reminder to redirect from Plan Anxiety to a Plan Belief.

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Plan A is the anxious response. Plan B is a belief response. A belief response says, God’s reliable and his intentions are trustworthy whatever unexpected challenge occurs in your life. With Plan B, you stand on God’s words from the Bible. You remember how He got you through the last challenge, and you’re convinced you need Him.

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Every time you opt for Plan Belief, you enter the growth territory. You grow and expand your relationship with God. Plan B keeps you anchored to the Lord so that anxiety and worry can’t sweep you onto an unsupported, wobbly foundation.

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 Develop your Plan B - create your Plan Belief. I know you’ve got it in you to make a beautiful relationship with your God and Savior.

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Thank you for listening. Hey I’d love to hear from you. Tell me what you need, what you want to learn, and how I can help you get Anchored Not Anxious. My website is up and waiting for your visit. Go to anchorednotanxious.com and sign up for the twice a month CareLetter.

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Check the website for email and Facebook contacts. Watch my YouTube Channel Anchored Not Anxious for special videos. Until next time

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Reference:

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[1] Aaron C. Fenlason, “Belief,” in Lexham Theological Wordbook, ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014). 

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