Fear Not.
"FEAR NOT." - God
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
"When I am afraid, I put my trust in you." Psalm 56:3
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
"Peace is what I leave with you, it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worries or upset; do not be afraid." John 14:27
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sounds mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
So, I kind of have this feeling that God doesn't want us to be afraid. Can we even hope to accomplish that feat, us tiny, little humans who are surrounded and bombarded by terror and starvation, by inadequacies and shame, by violence and sorrow? Yet, God says "fear not," and sends us out into the world to reflect Him. And Goes know the world is scary. He is not blind to that, not at all. He know us more deeply than we know ourselves, and He understands our fears and anxieties. He isn't just sitting up there in the clouds saying, "Come on, kiddo, pull yourself together! Get a grip! It's not that bad!" God isn't a football coach. He knows that the world is against everything He is, and against everything He pushes us to fight for. He sees all the horror, and is sad. Still, He tells us to go, and to not be afraid.
"Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge." Proverbs 14:26
The only thing God wants us to fear is God Himself. And not in the same way that we fear other things. Not like we are scared of spiders, or the dark, or being murdered, or being alone, or being embarrassed, or our country falling apart, or the world falling apart. Everything we fear, other than God, we have zero control over, more or less. We can avoid things, sure. I'm great at avoiding situations where my deepest emotions could potentially be on display. If people only knew, my image would be tainted! Guys, that's pride, and it basically shrouds my fears and says nothing is wrong. Wrong!
Earlier this year, I jotted down a list of the fears that affect me the most. These ended up being things that I couldn't really avoid, and definitely couldn't control. Things like loneliness, rejection, failing in my career, failing in ministry, and never having a family. Yeah, I can give those things my all. I can pursue relationships, platonic or otherwise, that I think would fulfill me. I can drive myself insane advertising my business and trying to be financially good enough. I can change myself and try to hide my personality so as to be accepted by as may people as possible. I can give myself to these things because they scare me and I want to have control over them. OR. I can give myself to the One who is actually in control of them. I can fear Him, and not in the same way I fear rejection or failure or loneliness, but more like I fear the ocean. I love the ocean. I love being near to it, and learning about it, and just being in awe of the wildness and awesomeness of it. It's huge and powerful and totally unpredictable, totally unable to be controlled. I love it, and I have a (mostly) healthy fear/respect combo of it.
God is wild and awesome and huge and powerful. He is unpredictable at times and totally unable to be controlled. This is the power that controls our world. He is the one who can bring order to our lives, and the one who already knows and understands our fears, but also who can control them. By fearing God, we have the opportunity to cancel out those teeny, scary things that the enemy tries to distract us with. Not only to cancel them out, but to see God reign over them! How amazing is that picture! And sure, it won't be like that 150% of the time. We are imperfect, and we will fail and be scared of these things that distract. But if God is what we ultimately fear, He will back us up. He won't let the worldly anxieties get the best of us when we fall back on Him.
Fear not. Love people with abandon. Take risks. Take chances. Give your all. Fear not.
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
"When I am afraid, I put my trust in you." Psalm 56:3
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
"Peace is what I leave with you, it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worries or upset; do not be afraid." John 14:27
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sounds mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
So, I kind of have this feeling that God doesn't want us to be afraid. Can we even hope to accomplish that feat, us tiny, little humans who are surrounded and bombarded by terror and starvation, by inadequacies and shame, by violence and sorrow? Yet, God says "fear not," and sends us out into the world to reflect Him. And Goes know the world is scary. He is not blind to that, not at all. He know us more deeply than we know ourselves, and He understands our fears and anxieties. He isn't just sitting up there in the clouds saying, "Come on, kiddo, pull yourself together! Get a grip! It's not that bad!" God isn't a football coach. He knows that the world is against everything He is, and against everything He pushes us to fight for. He sees all the horror, and is sad. Still, He tells us to go, and to not be afraid.
"Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge." Proverbs 14:26
The only thing God wants us to fear is God Himself. And not in the same way that we fear other things. Not like we are scared of spiders, or the dark, or being murdered, or being alone, or being embarrassed, or our country falling apart, or the world falling apart. Everything we fear, other than God, we have zero control over, more or less. We can avoid things, sure. I'm great at avoiding situations where my deepest emotions could potentially be on display. If people only knew, my image would be tainted! Guys, that's pride, and it basically shrouds my fears and says nothing is wrong. Wrong!
Earlier this year, I jotted down a list of the fears that affect me the most. These ended up being things that I couldn't really avoid, and definitely couldn't control. Things like loneliness, rejection, failing in my career, failing in ministry, and never having a family. Yeah, I can give those things my all. I can pursue relationships, platonic or otherwise, that I think would fulfill me. I can drive myself insane advertising my business and trying to be financially good enough. I can change myself and try to hide my personality so as to be accepted by as may people as possible. I can give myself to these things because they scare me and I want to have control over them. OR. I can give myself to the One who is actually in control of them. I can fear Him, and not in the same way I fear rejection or failure or loneliness, but more like I fear the ocean. I love the ocean. I love being near to it, and learning about it, and just being in awe of the wildness and awesomeness of it. It's huge and powerful and totally unpredictable, totally unable to be controlled. I love it, and I have a (mostly) healthy fear/respect combo of it.
God is wild and awesome and huge and powerful. He is unpredictable at times and totally unable to be controlled. This is the power that controls our world. He is the one who can bring order to our lives, and the one who already knows and understands our fears, but also who can control them. By fearing God, we have the opportunity to cancel out those teeny, scary things that the enemy tries to distract us with. Not only to cancel them out, but to see God reign over them! How amazing is that picture! And sure, it won't be like that 150% of the time. We are imperfect, and we will fail and be scared of these things that distract. But if God is what we ultimately fear, He will back us up. He won't let the worldly anxieties get the best of us when we fall back on Him.
Fear not. Love people with abandon. Take risks. Take chances. Give your all. Fear not.
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