Fear Less

There’s a saying I have written in my bible, “Stop telling God how big your problems are and start telling your problems how big your God is.” Casting Crowns has a song out, “Oh My Soul” in which there’s a line of the chorus that sticks with me. “There’s a place where fear has to face the God you know.” Both of these scenarios give me a visual of literally making a formal introduction, like you would introduce a friend at a party. “God, this is my fear. Fear, meet my God.”

God gave us our emotions, and throughout scripture He tells us how to use our emotions, but in 2 Timothy 1:7, the bible says God did not give us a spirit of fear. So even though fear exists in the world, it is not of God’s design. Healthy fear is a reverent understanding of God’s wrath, but unhealthy fear robs us of the other side of God…His mercy and grace, His guidance and blessing. Fear, when left unchecked, guides you right into Satan’s hands, where he uses that fear and your other emotions to confuse you, disorient you, and deflect the truth from you. You would think the opposite of fear is courage, but according to the bible it’s faith. When we have faith, the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, we can know that whatever we’re facing that is making us fearful is already known to God and He’s on the job.

Of course, this is easier said than done, especially when there’s nothing to fear on the home front, but faith is one of those things, like forgiveness, that we must practice and build on over and over so that, when we are faced with the enemy’s lies, we can believe and stand strong on the promises of God’s truth. In this world, until Jesus comes again, we may not be fearless, but with a little faith, we can fear less.