Fear: A feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger.

Why fear?

Every day we are faced with our fears. Phobias consume the pages of the medical books, as we grapple with the enemy of our mind. It is debilitating and restrictive. My hope was that the one realm that fear would not venture would be my testimony of Jesus Christ. It seemed like a reasonable desire, considering I have been saved for so many years. Yet I still struggled with the act of obedience when I was out of my comfort zone. This hurt, frustrated, and annoyed me. Why was I so limited?

If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels.

Luke 9:26

I knew Luke 9:26 like the back of my hand, and it scared me to question why I always had to be making a conscience choice to seek after God, rather than it just coming naturally. I wondered if I was as dedicated to Jesus Christ as my mind told me I wanted to be. Did Jesus care about me? Did I care about Jesus? And if so, why wouldn’t He just release me from fear and allow me to live boldly and victoriously every day? It was at the point of utter frustration that God reminded me of how human we are. Even those who saw Jesus in flesh and blood had moments of fear.

We are not alone

Peter denied Jesus three times (Mark 12:66-69) and in John 21, Jesus questioned if Peter really loved him. In Matthew 14:29-30 Peter stepped out of the boat to walk on water, yet as soon as he took his eyes off of Jesus, he got fearful and started to sink. This is one of Jesus’ close companions who feared. These moments of fear never negated Christ’s authority or power, but rather the understanding, that each day we must learn to be dependent on Christ for our strength.  Apart from God we are nothing (John 15:5)

We are Human

Although this sounds like a daunting task, it actually was encouraging to me, because I feared the reason I still had trouble always being obedient was due to being estranged from God. On the contrary, it is because I am human, and I need to cling to the cross for victory daily. It is not a one time, climb to the summit experience; it is a daily journey, a daily walk, until we finish the race which is eternity.

Words of Encouragement

Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again.

Proverbs 24:16

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

2 Tim 1:7

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matt 10:28

Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.

1 John 4:4

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

1 John 4:18