Fear is a common malady of the human condition but God’s love banishes fear.
“When I am afraid, I will trust in You.” Psalm 56:3 NIV
Fear is a terrible thing, trashing peace of mind, quenching joy, and dashing hopes. Fear is imagining your future – near or far – without seeing God in control. See 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NKJV. You can’t ignore fear or push it away, except briefly. Fear is tenacious. There is only one thing to do with fear. You banish fear by replacing it with truth and trust. “When I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid.” Psalm 56:3-4 NIV.
I abruptly awakened this morning very conscious of a disturbing dream. My dream was this: a pleasant outing with a preschool-age granddaughter turned into fearful panic. She had wandered off and I could not find her, searching desperately with a growing fear for her safety. Then my panic jarred me awake. Truth replaced fear. The crisis was only my imagination; that granddaughter is no preschooler today; she is a capable young lady. The cause of my panic was imagined, not real. I went to sleep having written these thoughts yesterday but knowing I would finish the edits this morning. Apparently, over night God gave me a living example of how fear can falsely impose itself into our thoughts, and can be just as easily banished.
Fear is a common malady of the human condition. Fear is tormenting – mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. ”There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:18-19 NKJV. Fear involves a choice; as hard as it may seem, you can choose to not be afraid. God’s love displaces your fear.
There is good news. Trust is God’s answer for fear. With threats intended to impose fear, the adversaries of Nehemiah sought to discourage the work and stop their progress in rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls. Nehemiah staunchly refused to yield to fear. “’Do not be afraid of the [enemy]. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your [families] and houses’ . . with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon . . his sword girded at his side as he built.” Read Nehemiah 4:11-25 NKJV. God is greater than whatever you fear. Don’t be intimidated by fear; you have to fight the fear. but truth will prevail Against your fear, take the “Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.” Ephesians 6:17 NKJV. God’s Word firmly in your heart and mind gives you God’s strength.
Trust displaces fear. Fear is only displaced when something stronger is chosen instead. Truth is always stronger than fear, when your trust is placed in the One who cannot fail. “For [God] Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear. What man can do to me?’” Hebrews 13:5-6 NKJV.
My prayer for you today is that you hold lightly to fears and tightly to God’s truth.