Fear stalks all of us.
It is nasty, paralyzing, demoralizing, frightening, crippling, and dream-killing.
It is one of the things I have struggled with for much of my life.
Yet, as I have listened to Pastor Steve’s series, “What Do You Know?” I realized anew how often God directs us in His Word to not be afraid. (I have heard it said that the command “Do not fear” appears in the Bible 365 times..that is one “Do not fear” for every day of the year!).
God never tells us not to feel fear because we all will.
However, we either let fear have the upper hand or we take our stand on God’s Word and refuse to live our lives controlled by fear.
I am making this choice today. If I let my mind venture into the land of “What if?” fear will overwhelm me.
But Jesus never invites us to journey to that place. In fact, He forbids it. It’s not real. If I choose to go there, I am placing myself in a position for Satan to terrorize me with all manner of scary scenarios. Nothing good ever comes from it.
So, I have made the deliberate choice to stop making the trip to the land of “What if?” and plant myself firmly in the NOW.
Now is the only place where I can encounter Jesus. And He is never the author of fear (that’s Satan’s specialty and he is a loser who has been thoroughly and eternally defeated by Jesus at the Cross. He can presume absolutely no authority over us).
Instead, Jesus always speaks courage to my heart, no matter how scary my circumstances:
“Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be struck with fear or seized with alarm.”–Luke 12:7
“Peace I leave with you, My own peace I now give and bequeath to you…do not let your hearts be troubled , neither let them be afraid. Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.”–John 14:27
“God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven, and cringing and fawning fear), but He has given us a spirit of power and love and of a calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.” –2 Timothy 1:7
This is what I know. I am commanded not to live my one short life in fear.
In today’s “Daily Bread” devotional, the author said the following: “Only one thing will conquer our fears: tenacious faith in God’s presence, protection, power and promises.”
His Presence: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”–Matthew 28:20
His Protection: It is the Lord who goes before you; He will march with you; He will not fail you or let you go or forsake you; let there be no cowardice or flinching, but fear not, neither become broken in spirit—depressed, dismayed, and unnerved with alarm. —-Deuteronomy 31:8
His power: He gives power to the faint and weary and to him who has no might, He increases strength, causing it to multiply and making it abound. –Isaiah 40:29
His promises: …God Himself has said, “I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let you down (or) relax My hold on you; assuredly not!”—Hebrews 13:5
So, I ask you (and myself) particularly in light of that last verse, what in the world do we ultimately have to fear?
Not one thing.
Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God…will come and save you.” —Isaiah 35:3-4
Power Of A Moment 
This is what I know–GOD IS IN CONTROL. Because I am His child, I know He is with me all the time, just as I was when my boys were small. As you said, Susan, fear can be paralyzing and when Satan puts fear in me, that is when I remember that our GOD IS IN CONTROL and that is where peace that passes all understanding flows. I imagine Satan is pretty “ticked” off then. Great blog, today.
Thanks Elaine! Every time I hear or see Joshua 1:9, I think of you and the promise He gave you when you moved. 🙂 As you said, He is in control of everything and we can rest in that.
Ahhhh… this post has gripped me. I am a worry-wartish kind of girl, and with my boy now driving , the fear has escalated. What I have to remind myself daily is that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. My child’s story is His to write,not mine, and … He’s published!
“,,,He’s published!” LOVE it!!! And I love you and your sense of humor sweet friend! 🙂
The one “fear” I can never seem to let go of is the fear of what God *will* allow to happen. Because, while He says ‘do not fear’ and He promises protection, He never promises that there will be no pain.
It is the pain that I fear, the inevitable, unspecific (as of yet) pain that I know is in the future.
THAT is what makes me weary and unwilling to ‘go on’ (although, go on I do…).
I so relate! You are exactly right: Jesus never promised that life in this fallen world would be without pain (John 16:33). Yet…He promises that any pain that comes to us comes with great purpose and that He will give us the grace to endure it and that is what we rest in. He feels what we feel because He felt it all when He walked this earth. In fact, I am feeling led to use your comment for a separate post on this subject because it is so important. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. I am praying for you!
Thank you so much for your reply, Susan! I always forget the promise that He will give us the grace to endure. And I also tend to gloss over the fact that He always has good intentions toward us.
I think, similar to addictions that are overcome, and similar to forgiving someone, it’s a daily struggle to TRUST GOD. And, not surprisingly, probably Satan’s favorite area to target. 😛 Which only adds to the struggle.
I look forward to your post about this, Susan! 🙂 And thank you for praying for me. :’)