What is fear? Better yet, what is your biggest fear? And no, this is not about being afraid to fly, being afraid of the dark, or being wary of things that go bump in the night. This is about those fears that have us in holding patterns, things like fear of commitment, fear of failure or success, fear of change or something new, and perhaps even the fear of illness or death. We spend so much time and energy trying to avoid what we fear that we miss out on reaching our greatest potential or experiencing our greatest joy.
So what is fear? It is distress caused by impending danger that is real or imagined; fear has also been described as False Expectation Appearing Real. We often convince ourselves of an outcome in a situation to the point that it becomes a reality in our minds. We tell ourselves “No one will hire me,” and then we are surprised when we did not get the job. We experience heartbreak and never let anyone get close to us again. Fear takes over and we control our environment in order to prevent bad things from happening. But fear is a trick of the enemy and is in total opposition to faith.
In Mark 4:40, Jesus says to the disciples, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” The disciples had spent the day with Jesus out on a lake, listening to Him speak in parables about the Kingdom of God. Yet when a storm came threatening to capsize the boat, the disciples woke Jesus from His nap thinking that they might drown. With all the time they had spent with Jesus in His ministry, there in His presence; the disciples allowed fear to cripple their faith. The storm they endured was bigger than their faith in the One who was with them.
In order to conquer our fear we must have faith in the One that can calm the storm. A fearless faith says that God is bigger than the wind and the waves, and He can guide us safely to shore! We must stop allowing fear to control us and let faith guide our lives. We must commit ourselves to Christ and start to love fearlessly, pray fearlessly, serve fearlessly, live fearlessly, but most of all we must believe fearlessly! :)
Scripture: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV
Scripture: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV
Prayer: Thank you Heavenly Father for your grace and mercy. We ask that you forgive us for doubting you and minimizing your love and power. You have not given us a spirit of fear and we rebuke it in the name of Jesus. You said that you would never leave us nor forsake us and that you are with us always. We can trust you to do as you promised. So be with us in this battle against the enemy that is fear, because it gets in the way of our faith. Help us Lord to face our fears and move forward in all of our endeavors that bring glory to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Read 2 Timothy 1:6-12 and Mark 4 for further insight.
