Fear Not!

About a month or two ago, I wrote a post about how God had me on the verge of learning some new things about myself and some of the insecurities I've been carrying through life. I have been continuing to seek God and learn about these issues a lot over the past several weeks. I have come to realize that at the core of my insecurities lies a huge helping of fear. Fear of being rejected, loneliness, and unknowns in general. God has really challenged me and enabled me to battle those fears with a heavy dose of God's truth.

I am still going through Beth Moore's study on the book of Esther, and I have been blessed beyond belief. A few weeks ago she addressed the issue of fear, and I felt that many of her words were specifically for me. She focussed on Esther 4:16, where Esther comes to a point where she can say these well known words, "And if I perish, then I perish." That's when Beth got personal. She asked, what is the, "If ____, Then_____," that we are struggling with in our own lives. She explained that so often we pray that God will keep our greatest fears from happening, and/or remove them from our lives. It is not wrong to pray that way, and often God may choose to do just that. However, we need to come to a point in our lives where can say, if (fill in the blank) happens, then, (God is still good, He will comfort me, He will be my peace, He will heal my broken heart, etc.). Wow... for me that is quite a huge undertaking. Immediately my mind goes to something happening to Bill or the kids, or something happening to my marriage, etc. Can I honestly be as brave as Esther and say, "If ______, then______!" We must address these fears in our lives, because how we respond to the "then_____" tells a lot about what we truly believe about God. Is he really all we need? Do we really believe he loves us and cares for us? I am not saying that if something devastating happened in our lives, that it wouldn't cause great pain and suffering for us. However, if we live our lives in fear and bondage to those "what ifs?" we will rob our lives of so much joy. I John 4 has always been one of my favorite books, I love verses 16-18, "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do w/ punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." Wow... again. If I truly believe that God loves me, I cannot live a life of fear. I must trust and have faith in every circumstance.

That leads me to another thought. So far, I've focussed on fear of the "worst case scenario." However, what do I do with those day to day fears. Those things I fear because they make life inconvenient, uncomfortable, and seemingly unenjoyable. I am talking about things like my fear of fitting in, fear of that person who makes work so difficult, fear that my child will never overcome some behavior that drives me crazy, etc. Am I sinning and being ruled by fear when I dread contact with those unpleasantries. Am I letting my fears steal the joy that God desires for my life? James 1:2-4 are verses that we would often like to ignore, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." It doesn't say that we are to just survive trials. It doesn't say that we are to pray that God keeps all trials out of our life or that he removes them as soon as they arrive. No, he says, "Consider it PURE JOY!" It's as though we are to be grateful that he loves us enough to give us trials because he wants to make us better. He wants to make us "mature and complete, not lacking anything."

I challenge us all to face our fears head on. Maybe you are going through a worst case scenario type fear, that shakes the very core of who you are and what you believe. Or maybe you're like me and need to find a way to choose joy in the midst of some day to day fears. I love the song, "Whatever You're Doing," by Sanctus Real. There is a line that grabs me every time I hear it, and I think it applies to either type of fear we deal with. It says, "Whatever you're doing inside of me, it feels like chaos, but somehow there's peace. It's hard to surrender to what I don't see, but I'm giving into something heavenly." This has been my prayer for my own life as I've been dealing with this issue. I hope it will serve as an encouragement to any who read as well. Finally, cling to truth of the following verses in Isaiah 41:10 & 13, "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand... For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you!"