“I am so afraid…” I’ve sobbed to my mom more than once before. Fear, a natural, human emotion, chains us, weakens us, and leads us into a nasty trap. If I were to write all of my fears on a whiteboard, I would be unable to count them. Although there are so many, Jesus can erase all my fears by covering them in His love. He is bigger than all the worries of this world, and He can erase your fears, too.
Identifying Fear:
Over and over again, people experience fear. Whenever humans sense something that is or will be hurtful to them, worry often invades their minds. Even dogs show fear. My new puppy Ginger cringes at the sound of the vacuum, though it has never harmed her in any way. Meanwhile, my family tries their hardest to model for Ginger that the noisy carpet cleaner is only a machine, but she still hides underneath our brown, leather chair, the fear ablaze in her sad, dopey eyes, every time we turn on the shrilly vacuum.
Most of the time, fear is easy to pinpoint like Ginger’s fear of the vacuum. However, fear sometimes lurks in the darkest places where it can be tricky to classify. Identifying your fears for yourself is the first step to having them erased in God’s perfect love. What causes you angst? Nail down that fear. Why are you so worried about it? 1 John 4:18 (CEV) helps us identify the root of our fears: “…The thought of being punished is what makes us afraid…”
Deep down, what terrible punishment concerns you? Ask the Lord to help you identify your fears.
Laying Down Fear:
Nervous and trembling, Ginger retreats underneath the sturdy arm-chair whenever the vacuum sounds as I mentioned earlier. We do this too! Searching for refuge, we put our faith in things other than the Father to protect us from harm. Since we desire control, safety, and stability as humans, we will try anything just to obtain some comfort and assurance in our circumstances whatever they are. We forget that God can give us the security we so desperately need because He already defeated fear, anxiety, and death itself on the cross.
We must surrender our fear at Emmanuel’s feet in order to get rid of the lies it feeds our heart. Replacing that worry with the Truth of the Gospel through other Christians’ encouragement or the reading of God’s Word truly frees the soul. By trusting God, our fear will be erased and covered in Christ’s unconditional love!
“Where God’s love is, there is no fear, because God’s perfect love takes away fear…”
~1 John 4:18 (ICB)
