Starting Monday, I'm going to implement a new system. On months that have four Mondays, I plan to write four posts relating to the same topic. Months that have more than four Mondays will have four posts related to the same topic, followed by an additional post (either another post of the same topic or a post on another topic).
Today, however, I want to talk about fear. I'm personally afraid of several things. For example, I am extremely afraid of any kind of bug that stings. Seriously, if there's a wasp in the room, I'm outta here!
I'm not really sure where this fear comes from. I was stung by a wasp when I was little, but my fear seems to be a lot worse this year (I love flowers, but don't expect me to go near them unless they're in a vase in my house or it's freezing outside). Maybe it's due to the nest of yellow jackets that lived in our yard last year; we found out that they were in our yard, when the poor guy who mows our lawn was mowing near their nest. They were not happy about that and attacked him. I was inside at the time and still shiver at the thought of that.
Whatever the reason, I have literally been living in fear for most of the past several weeks. The weather's warmer, the flowers are blooming, and the bugs are out. I literally will not go check the mailbox when the mail comes.
Today, the opportunity came for me to take my dogs for a walk. I love my dogs immensely and spending time with them is one of my favorite things to do. I have felt too scared to venture out much with them recently and I really missed them.
I decided it was time to face my fears. No one can overcome your fears for you (not your husband, not your sister, not your mom, not your best friend). You just have to trust God and go for it. So, I prayed and I went. I enjoyed the walk very much, though there were couple of jumpy moments.
There are many Scripture verses about not fearing. Deuteronomy 31:6 is a personal favorite of mine. "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” (NKJV)
Did you see that? Not only are we told not to fear, we are given the reason we shouldn't fear!
"for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." [emphasis mine]
As Christians, the Lord is with us. We don't have to fear anything. Though physical harm may come (everything from bee stings to physical death), spiritual harm can never happen to a Christian (separation from God eternally). Paul discusses this in Romans 8:31-39, another favorite set of verses. :)
Though the fears that we have may be real and though they may seem overwhelming, they can be conquered. Our fears can be conquered because if Christ is our Saviour, what have we to fear?
Sometimes you just have pray and then to go ahead and do whatever it is that you're afraid to do (assuming that it's not sinful). For me that was opening my front door and stepping out without turning around and going back inside immediately. It was running through the yard with my dogs, playing among the flowers. I was scared, but the result of feeling happy that my fears didn't rule my life, the result of feeling like I trusted God a little more than I usually do (I still need to work of the slight paranoia), was completely and totally worth it.
Whatever you do, don't become prideful. If you start thinking, "I'm the one who did this. I'm so great. I did this all on my own," you are completely missing the point. The point is glorifying God, not glorifying yourself. The point is not fearing because God is with us; not being prideful because *I* gained the victory on my own.
Now to figure out how to overcome my fear of sharks...I don't know if shark-diving is quite the thing, but I know I can have victory over that fear in Christ.
Victory is ours in Christ, sisters, let's act like it. Act with faith; act without fear.
In Him,
