Have you ever been afraid? Have you feared something from the past revisiting your life? A present danger? A future event? There are many things to fear in life. In DallasTexas, the recent tornadoes surely had people in fear of their lives. And I'm sure people in Haiti still experience some fear if the ground rumbles a bit too much.
As a child I always felt safer when entering a dark room if someone else was with me. Or, as an adult, standing deep in a cave and having the guide suggest taking the hand of the person next to us before they extinguish the light demonstrating absolute darkness. There the presence of another person was comforting.
Fear
can either direct or destroy our lives. Fears that direct our lives
are those which give us a healthy respect for the consequences. We make future choices based on those fears hoping to avert the negative consequences experiences in the past. Destroying fears are those which paralyze us and cause despair. The destructive fears prevent us from moving forward in life stagnating us in a sense of hopelessness. Those are the fears God speaks of when He tells us to “fear not.” But it's hard not to fear if we don't have faith because when God says fear not it is followed by I am with you. Do you know God is with you today? Is His presence a comfort?
If you are experiencing fear today maybe it is because you don't know that God is with you. Or, maybe you are not trusting in the comfort of His presence. He wants us to leave our fears with Him and move forward.
When
we truly know that Jesus is the light, salvation and defense of our
lives we will not get caught up in the fear, dread or despair that so
easily overwhelms us. He has promised if we come near to Him He will come near to us (James 4:8). God never lies. What He says He will do - He WILL do.
In the Bible, David
said he “would have despaired unless (he) had believed that (he)
would see the goodness of the Lord…” (Psalm 27:13-14). David knew the Lord as his
rescuer and so had the confidence to fear not. He could say “Whom
shall I fear?” and “Whom shall I dread?” (Psalm 27:1). To that we can also
add What shall I fear?, and What shall I dread? Knowing
the goodness of the Lord gives us the courage to stand in His presence,
confidently, with strength having the healthy fear and respect for
God’s power and ability to overcome anything and without the fear that destroys us.
If you are fearful today don't let that fear destroy you. Call on the presence of God and the name of Jesus - the Name above all names - the name powerful enough to replace your fears with comfort and confidence.
