Fear. It is able to overtake us, disengage us and throw us off course if we aren’t careful and standing guard. Fear is not from God. Scripture tells us to fear not or to not be afraid about 365 times to be exact! That’s once a day for an entire year we can read a different verse telling us to do the same thing: do not be afraid.
We envy the brave. Brave stories inspire us. I’m sure everyone we consider brave has been afraid but they fought through fear, set their feelings aside and were brave anyway. If we truly trust we have no fear. God is the only one truly worthy of our full trust. History is full of inspirational stories of followers of Jesus who lived this verse out. Joan of Arc, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther, any Christian featured in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and this list continues to grow and grow. It’s our turn to be brave. This is our time. This is my day!
People who live in fear do not make progress. Fear steers us backwards. If I succumb to fear I lose. If I press on I win. As people of faith we cannot fear evil. Evil has been defeated in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Evil will not win. I’m just temporarily stuck in the in between, waiting, yet pressing on and pushing forward. Feeling constrained today? It’s time to approach the Throne and ask for our fear to be overcome in Jesus name! We must trust, believe and obey. We can cast off fear, start walking and the more we walk we’ll eventually want to run. Do not accept fear as your lot in life. Nobody was created for the purpose of living their whole lives in fear. God can settle our hearts if we invite Him in and allow Him. Trust. Let go of your need to control. God will do a better job anyhow!
Jeni Martin Johnson 
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