Just this morning I dropped off my youngest daughter for her first "mini" day of kindergarten. True to form I wasn't real emotional about it. I believe that she will do great and that I have prepared her to the best of my ability. However, it got me to thinking about the fear that is possible in our lives.
Many people fear and dread the day their child heads off to school for the first time. Let's be honest here, there are some pretty horrific things that go on in the world and NO parent wants their child to be a part of them. I am truly no different. I want my kids to be safe and loved and accepted. It just doesn't always work out that way.
Then I think about the fears in my own life. Fear of somehow losing all my earthly success (really spiritual I know). Fear of dying alone. Fear of all kinds of things, and in the midst of musing on these fears last night, God granted me comforting insight.
These fears are not from God. All the things I fear are things that God has promised to take care of for me. He has promised to supply my every physical need. He has promised to care for my children. He has promised me eternal life. When the Bible says repeatedly "Fear not", God is not kidding. He does not want me to fear. Taking this a step further, fear of these things is really, ultimately, saying that I don't believe God's promises. Fear comes from a lack of faith.
It is really hard to have faith sometimes. Faith doesn't come easily but it is essential. Fear is Satan's way of trying to place doubt in our mind that God is truly faithful to us in his promises.
What do we tend to do when we are full of fear? We talk to our friends, colleagues, church family, blood family. We TALK. Why? It hit me today that we talk about our fear because we want others to validate it. We want them to tell us that it is an "understandable fear" and that it's "normal" to be afraid of such things. The truth is though that this does not really match up with God's word. God tells us "Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand" (Isaiah 41:10 NLT).
There is no fear, apart from the fear of the Lord, that God wants you to have. We should not take part in the "sharing of fears". It will not help us. God wants us to claim the victory that he has already delivered into our hands instead of having us wallow in fear. Fear keeps us from the work of God. When we shares fears with others and tell them that their fears are "OK" is that from the Lord? It sure doesn't seem that way. God doesn't want that fear to take a hold of us. He tells us specifically many, many times not to fear. I don't think that this means that we are never going to feel fear. Everyone does. But I can honestly not think now of a good reason to share them. Sharing my fears does not honor God. It does not exemplify my faith that God is true and will honor his promise to me. When I share my fears I am voicing doubt in God. I can't do that. Doing that will give the Devil a foothold in my life that I do NOT want him to have. In this day and age of massive over-sharing I feel that it will be challenging to not share my fears and crave that sympathy from others that my fears are "OK". But they are not. My fears, while normal, are a reminder to me of my need for greater faith in God. My fears are a sign of the work that God is still doing in my heart. My fears remind me of my need for Jesus. So I am determining to use my fears to point me back to God's promises and not towards anything else.
Many people fear and dread the day their child heads off to school for the first time. Let's be honest here, there are some pretty horrific things that go on in the world and NO parent wants their child to be a part of them. I am truly no different. I want my kids to be safe and loved and accepted. It just doesn't always work out that way.
Then I think about the fears in my own life. Fear of somehow losing all my earthly success (really spiritual I know). Fear of dying alone. Fear of all kinds of things, and in the midst of musing on these fears last night, God granted me comforting insight.
These fears are not from God. All the things I fear are things that God has promised to take care of for me. He has promised to supply my every physical need. He has promised to care for my children. He has promised me eternal life. When the Bible says repeatedly "Fear not", God is not kidding. He does not want me to fear. Taking this a step further, fear of these things is really, ultimately, saying that I don't believe God's promises. Fear comes from a lack of faith.
It is really hard to have faith sometimes. Faith doesn't come easily but it is essential. Fear is Satan's way of trying to place doubt in our mind that God is truly faithful to us in his promises.
What do we tend to do when we are full of fear? We talk to our friends, colleagues, church family, blood family. We TALK. Why? It hit me today that we talk about our fear because we want others to validate it. We want them to tell us that it is an "understandable fear" and that it's "normal" to be afraid of such things. The truth is though that this does not really match up with God's word. God tells us "Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand" (Isaiah 41:10 NLT).
There is no fear, apart from the fear of the Lord, that God wants you to have. We should not take part in the "sharing of fears". It will not help us. God wants us to claim the victory that he has already delivered into our hands instead of having us wallow in fear. Fear keeps us from the work of God. When we shares fears with others and tell them that their fears are "OK" is that from the Lord? It sure doesn't seem that way. God doesn't want that fear to take a hold of us. He tells us specifically many, many times not to fear. I don't think that this means that we are never going to feel fear. Everyone does. But I can honestly not think now of a good reason to share them. Sharing my fears does not honor God. It does not exemplify my faith that God is true and will honor his promise to me. When I share my fears I am voicing doubt in God. I can't do that. Doing that will give the Devil a foothold in my life that I do NOT want him to have. In this day and age of massive over-sharing I feel that it will be challenging to not share my fears and crave that sympathy from others that my fears are "OK". But they are not. My fears, while normal, are a reminder to me of my need for greater faith in God. My fears are a sign of the work that God is still doing in my heart. My fears remind me of my need for Jesus. So I am determining to use my fears to point me back to God's promises and not towards anything else.
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