Fear Not

Fear. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like it. I don’t like the feelings of hesitation and dread that come with it, either.

Yet even if we don’t like being fearful, there are things in life that are going to make us scared.

We might fear for our kids’ safety. Or our health. Or we might simply fear doing something because we don’t want to fail. But regardless of what we’re scared of, with God in our lives, our fears can be much less.

The apostle Paul talks about this in 2 Timothy 1:7, saying,

“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but rather a spirit of power and of love…”

In fact, there are tons of verses in the Bible about fear. Like in Mark 6:42, when Jesus says,

“Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

And in Deuteronony 31:6,

“Be strong and courageous…the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”

I recently heard the band Fireflight’s song, Unbreakable, and I think it makes a great point… “Forget the fear. It’s just a crutch that tries to hold you back until your dreams are dust.” It’s so easy to get distracted from what’s important when we’re fearful. But no matter what we’re fearful of, we can be comforted and renewed if we’ll just remember that God is with us. And if we’ll turn to Him for help.

I love being able to share this comfort with my kids, too. When they get scared, rather than just telling them there’s nothing to be scared of, it’s great to be able to remind them that, with God, all things are possible. When my son gets frightened at night, I can not only assure him that there are no goblins in his room, but I can also promise him that God is in his room. And when my daughter gets nervous before getting up in front of her class at school, I can remind her that God will help her to be strong. And that He’ll never leave her.

I know that in the ups and downs of life, there will be plenty of things that will cause me to fear. But I’m just thankful for Gods’ love and for the fact that I’ll never have to face those fears alone.