“Faith is a gift. I can’t make myself have more faith.”
Gary Zimak
Who is Gary Zimak?
Gary Zimak is the author of several books, including Stop Worrying and Start Living, From Fear To Faith, Give Up Worry For Lent, A Worrier’s Guide To The Bible, Listen To Your Blessed Mother, Find A Real Friend In Jesus and Faith, Hope and Clarity.
Furthermore, he is a frequent speaker at parishes and conferences across the country and is recognized as the leading Catholic speaker on the topic of overcoming anxiety. In addition, Gary is a regular guest on EWTN TV & Radio, Relevant Radio, the host of The Gary Zimak Show podcast on Breadbox Media and was the creator and host of Spirit In The Morning, which aired on Holy Spirit Radio in Philadelphia from 2016-2018. His work has appeared in The National Catholic Register, Catholic Digest, Catholic Exchange, Catholic Philly and Seton Magazine.
Currently, Gary resides in South Jersey with his wife Eileen and daughters Mary and Elizabeth. They are members of Saint Mary of the Lakes parish in Medford, NJ. You can read more on his website.
How to Trust God and Overcome Fear
In this episode, Gary Zimak tells us about the steps to trust in God and overcome our fear.
-Why should we have faith and not fear and what does God tell us about this virtue?
-What are your steps for not worrying/dealing with fear but having faith instead?
-How much time will it take for us to develop this?
-What can we learn from the saints and biblical figures about faith?
Five Steps to Trust God
I first came across Gary’s book as it was mentioned on a priests blog. And since there were so many people I met and knew who were dealing with anxiety from being cooped up due to the pandemic, this was a topic I was praying about. I reached out to various people and wrote to Gary half afraid he wouldn’t respond. Moreover, my mom was interceding in earnest for the next guest on our podcast. And by God’s grace, Gary replied almost immediately.
Surprisingly, he had written a book about this and he mentions in the podcast, that he specializes in talking about this having dealt with this area of trust personally. What a miracle!
Needless to say, all his advice comes from personal experience. And I love that he breaks down the steps to overcoming fear and trusting God through five steps. Clearly, he goes on more detail in his book From Fear to Faith.
-Step 1: Prepare. Do what you can do.
-Step 2: Present. Stay in the present moment. Focus on just this day.
-Step 3: Pray. Take everything to God in prayer and surrender.
-Step 4: Participate. In God’s word, His Eucharist, His prayer. Him
-Step 5: Prize. Keep your eyes on the prize. Heaven. Everything else passes.
Sounds simple enough isn’t it? However, how to trust God is more than just five steps though. Personally, I believe that we should be like Jesus asks to be. Childlike in our approach to Our Father. Knowing that He knows what’s best and only interested in giving us good things. It takes time and I know that with Jesus, things don’t feel like a battle when I say, “I can’t Lord, but You can. Here it is, make what you will of it.”
In conclusion, as you go through this pandemic season, I remind you of my favorite verse from James 4:8, “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.”
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