Fear is… well, scary. (Duh, right?) There are a lot of different types of fears, big, little, valid, irrational, profound, imaginary etc. But being humans, it seems to be a part of our life. But it’s amazing how relief comes to alleviate our fears so awesomely and suddenly– in the most surprising places.
Yesterday was my first time to do staff devotional at our weekly staff meeting. I was excited, and a smidgen apprehensive, almost kind of intimidated. I mean seriously, our equipping staff (aka pastors/minister-ish people) totaled it up a couple weeks ago and determined that they have 99 years of ministry experience between them. Yeah, I’m going on like 4 months. No pressure, right?
I knew my devotional day was approaching, so I started to pray for God to reveal to me what to say. Each time I would start to feel butterflies (aka fear), I would pray even more. Over the past two weeks, He has led me down this bunny trail that I personally wasn’t sure made sense… but again, who I am I to question?
So I shared His message. He tied together the lessons I learned from the movie Courageous (for more info, check out See and Be Courageous) which lead me sharing a previous post entitled No More Cornflakes when I discussed the occasional “flakiness” of my faith. Fear seems to be the opposite of faith. Whenever I take my eyes off of Him, I get scared… What do I get scared about? I get scared about whatever little seeds Satan plants in my brain. (Big jerk!) Some of those fears include (or used to include at some point in my life):
Fear of abandonment/loneliness
Fear of betrayal
Fear of disease
Fear of death (before I knew Christ)
Fear of failure
Fear of not being a good wife
Fear of a variety of little dinky stuff that really doesn’t matter but Satan decides to mess with my head anyways
 |
| Look closely… the inscription is starting |
to wear off, but it is still there…
“No fear in love…” 1 John 4:18
As I have previously discussed, I wear a ring everyday that says “No Fear in Love” from 1 John 4:18. In the context of the devotional I shared, it wasn’t necessarily about the earthly love of a man and woman– but rather that of Our Father and ourselves. His love IS perfect… and it says in that verse that there is no fear in love for perfect love casts out fear. What an awesome promise! God loves us… so what should we be afraid of?
However, it’s not quite that easy to turn our fears into faith simply by remembering that God loves us. Instead, it will require prayer. Pray specifically for God to turn your fear of ______ into faith that ______. This method can cover all kinds of fears, big, little, in between. Here are some examples:
God, please turn my fear of abandonment/loneliness into faith knowing that you are always here and never leave me.
God, please turn my fear of failure into faith that you give me strength to accomplish things within your will.
God, please turn my fear of not being a good wife into the faith that you called me to serve as an army wife, you are faithful and will help me succeed in the name of Christ.
As my devotional time drew to a close, I shared a thought that God had given me on the difference between bravery and courage. While they are practically interchangeable in Webster, they are very different in a spiritual context.
Bravery comes from the Spanish word “Bravado” and reflects more of a knee-jerk reaction… something you do without thinking or motivation, but you just do it. Courage, on the other hand comes from the French word meaning “Heart.” It is a deeper kind of feeling, often pre-mediated, rooted in love and faithfulness. Cool huh?
Think about and maybe even consider making a list of your fears… Pray to turn your fear of _____ into faith that ______. Meditate on God’s love for us and root the actions of your heart in love and faithfulness… Be courageous in faith and live a life with no fear here.
Here’s to no fear,
SGK
“Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.” –Isaiah 44:8
