Lately, I have been extra jumpy and on high-alert in parking lots, at grocery stores, and even walking in my own neighborhood. A lot of us in our quaint neighborhood are feeling extra cautious. Extra suspicious. And it can really wear on a person’s soul. Our little neighborhood has just had a couple of tragic crimes take place in a small amount of time…unspeakable things, scary things…much too close to home.
I have found myself suspicious of anyone looking suspicious. A quick errand that usually is easy-peasy seems to take all my energy from me as my insides prepare to grande battement in the nose anyone who seems uncomfortably close or dangerous. And today it hit me…living in fear is exhausting.
But what do we do with fear? How do we overcome it?
When I was a kiddo, I felt pretty fearless.
When I was a young, aspiring ballet dancer, my fears revolved around two issues: blanking out on stage, or falling on stage!
When I became a mom…it was like I really saw the world for what it was for the first time. The news reports, the crimes, the violence…when you’re a parent, suddenly the dark world feels uncomfortably close. And your heart feels the weight of fear.
But even if you’re not a parent, whoever you are, and wherever you are…when fear takes hold of the heart, our hearts are stressed…they can’t seem to find complete peace. How do we shake it? How do we live free of fear? Is it even possible?
When we look up “fear” in the back of our Bibles, lots of verses are listed. And I wonder, could it be that God knew we would struggle with fear, so He brings it up a lot in His holy Word?
One of my favorites is found in Deuteronomy 31:6,
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you or forsake you.”
And then this one,
“But perfect love drives out fear.” 1 John 4:18
These verses remind me that fear is not so much a fear issue, but a faith issue. Will I trust or will I worry? Will I fear or will I have faith? But here’s the best part, we don’t have to have faith in the goodness of people or the goodness of the world or the safety of the world…no, we can have faith in the goodness and the shelter of our God. The ONLY thing that will drive out, move out, get rid of fear is PERFECT LOVE. And the ONLY place we can find perfect love is in Jesus. The way to live without fear is to lean desperately on the only Perfect Love. We can rely fully on the Perfect Love. We can know that He never leaves us.
But sometimes I’ve caught myself struggling, “I know I can have faith in Jesus, but how do I put that faith in action in real life in relation to my fears?” (like not being so jumpy in parking lots and running errands…hopefully not having to pull out my grande battement) In other words, how do I not live on high-alert all the time? How do I live with a peace that surpasses all understanding? (Philippians 4:6-7) I want that kind of peace…the kind that doesn’t make sense…the kind that feels impossible to find sometimes.
God must have known I needed a little spiritual sorting out last night…and He loves to surprise me with little nudges of faith from my sons. As we were discussing Lego sets and eating chili with a football game on in the background, my youngest son, he’s five, out of the blue, proclaimed,
“Mommy! Last night, I prayed to God before I went to sleep that I wouldn’t have bad dreams…” and with the biggest smile ever across his face he said, “and last night, I didn’t have bad dreams.” And back to his chocolate ice cream he went.
And in that moment, I remembered or learned…sometimes I’m not sure which… PRAY OUT THE FEAR. God says we can pray about anything…
“Do not be anxious about ANYTHING, but 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 And it goes on to say, ” Finally, brothers, (that’s us, sisters) whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things….and the God of peace will be with you.” Verses 8, 9b
So dear friend, what’s the fear that’s wearing you out? Is it a fear on the stage or in the studio? Is it a fear about parenting? Is it a fear over something you’ve heard on the news? Is it a fear of stepping outside your comfort zone to step towards a dream? Note when your thoughts go there…and ask yourself, “Are these thoughts true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy?” If they’re not, it’s something we need to bring to the Lord.
Will you take a moment today to name that fear, bring it to the Lord, pray about it, and let Him do the mighty work of driving out that fear?
Because remember, PERFECT LOVE DRIVES OUT FEAR. And dear one, YOU are perfectly loved. And your perfect Father desperately desires you to live without fear. And the thought crosses my mind, maybe we have to take that first step of choosing to have faith over fear…before the real peace takes over our hearts. We can trust God…that the peace WILL come as we trust in Him.
When I watch my sons play, imagine, and enjoy God’s creation, I watch their demeanor…and they are so content, so peaceful, so unafraid. (It makes my heart smile!) As the parent, I look after them…I’m always watching them or listening for them…I typically (hopefully) always know where they are. And then it hits me, God is constantly watching over you and me. We can play, we can enjoy, we can rest…because He is constant. And don’t you know, that probably makes His heart smile when we are living content, peaceful, and unafraid? He’s constantly keeping His eyes on us. We must remember it. We must pray that the truth that He is always with us somehow meshes into the very fiber of our beings so that we are free…free to truly live.
We don’t have to live in fear. The Perfect Love is in our corner. Heart, you can fully rest. We don’t have to just try and suppress our fears…we can add them to our prayer list…we can start praying that God would drive out our fears. I pray that YOU feel perfectly loved today.
Prayer: “Lord, we fear things. We frankly live in a really scary world. Will you give us grace to see the beauty in the darkness? Will you give us strength to overcome our fears as we learn to depend on You? Will you give us passion to stay in Your Word? Will You give us motivation to always pray? Lord, thank You for loving us so perfectly. Lord, we lay down our fears. Will You raise up our faith as we learn to look to You. Because You are all things true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and praiseworthy…let our thoughts linger there and not on our fears.”
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