FEAR

The soft tick of the wall clock and the sounds of my husband and daughter sleeping was the music to that night. I laid in bed at my parent's house with my eyes wide open. It was well after midnight and the rest of the house was fast asleep with full bellies and hearts after a great Christmas day and evening together. My Christmas wishes were met and I was with the people I care about most. What could possibly keep me up? Fear. Dictionary.com defines fear as a noun "a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid." I would like to say this was a one-time thing, but it wasn't. In fact, I had been dealing with a lot of fear lately. It hit me out of nowhere and I don't like who I am with it on board. I could tell you of what I was fearful but it doesn't matter all that much. Each of you have your own fears. Some fear is good. The fear of being hit by a car is good to teach children, so they don't walk out into the street. The fear of hurting a loved one is good because we need to gaurd our mouth and actions. I am not talking about that kind of fear. I am talking about the kind that keeps you up, makes you anxiety ridden, and can leave you breathless. This last week God has taught me a lot about fear. I am not expert and certainly haven't conquered it but I want to share with you how I am learning to deal with it.

1. God tells us in His Word in some way to not be afraid 365 times. That's one for every day of the year. Charles Sprugeon said in his devotional, Morning and Evening1  that "We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word, He intended to be conspicuous in our lives." I think that applies here. I have also read in scripture that we are commanded to not be afraid, BECAUSE God is with us. He is our strength, our refuge. He is with us wherever we go.

2. Don't make decisions out of fear. This is something my husband and I have tried to put into practice in every aspect of our lives. Whether it comes to our money, our children's education or our emotions, we work very hard to seek the Lord and let the Holy Spirit guide us. I have found fear-based decisions rarely yield good long-term results.

3. Go ahead and play it out to the end. Beth Moore, an awesome Bible teacher and author gave this direction in one of her Bible Studies. She said if you are scared of something to go ahead and go through the what ifs. For example: What if my husband loses his job? We would have money for about a week. Then what? Well, we would clean out the pantry. Then what? We would start selling/pawning things to buy what we needed. Then what? You get my/her point. Play it out until you get to the end of the line. When all you have left is you, and all you can do is look up. When you look up you see that you aren't alone. Remember, God promises in His Word to never leave us.

4. Remember what fear is. F.E.A.R  is Forgetting Everything's Already Resolved. God is sovereign. He holds the world and the future. He designed it, so He knows the beginning, the end and all that is in between. That same God loves us so much and wants us to rest in the fact that He has it all figured out. We don't have to fear because God already knows the ending. He is taking care of us. Yes we have to make godly, sound decisions. No, this is not a call to complacency. It's a comfort and a joy to know that we don't have to be afraid.


The particular fear I was having the other night is gone. I was able to let it go because I realized two things. One. Being fearful takes a lot of energy. Two.(This one I learned from my dad) If the God who made the universe can't keep safe, work out, etc. whatever we are fearing, what makes us think in our finite humaness, that we would be able to fix it by worrying and being scared.

1. Spurgeon, Charles. Revised by Begg, Allistair

Morning and Evening

Wheaten, Illinois

Crossway Books 2003