Nothing To Fear

There are two things that I truly fear - disappointing other people and being rejected. Snakes I can handle, spiders aren't so bad and the dark doesn't worry me too much. But these two personal issues stir up my anxiety and make me fret like nothing else.

In reality, these are two silly fears. There is nothing I can do that will prevent someone from being disappointed sometime. I just don't want to be the cause of that disappointment. That can make for stressful times emotionally because the motivation is in the wrong place. Instead of doing all to the glory of God and being about my Father's business, it's easy to put the desires and hopes of people above where the Holy Spirit is leading.

And there is absolutely no way I can control what others do and say. Stopping myself from saying something because someone else might make fun of me gets tiring after a while. And trying to blend in to the surroundings so I'm not a target is no solution, either. Once bitten twice shy, I understand, but avoidance creates more fear ... and then it grows into something ugly and unrighteous.

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. 1 John 4:15-19

Nothing on this earth will ever stop fear, disappointment and rejection. Scripture says that only through God's love will we ever find peace and acceptance. Love - perfect love - comes directly from Heaven. It's not through man's appreciation or the absence of crude, mean people. It's from the love of God that will drive out fear and end our torment.

You probably fear different things than I do. But it doesn't matter what characteristics your fear has, dwelling in the Lord and accepting His perfect, all-consuming love will drive that fear as far as the east is from the west.

But overcoming fear isn't a destination or somewhere that we've arrived to. Conquering fear through God's love is a process, and it can be something that has to be consciously done every day. Claiming victory through the blood of Christ and the saving grace of God can be done any time, any place, anywhere. It can be fearful, but there is boldness in the perfect love of God.

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