No Fear

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

“Do not be afraid little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:32-34


For the past few weeks I have been not so gently invited to fall into fear. This invitation of course comes from our enemy. It started out with things from the past. Those almost did me in and fear did take hold for a few brief hours and thanks be to God for the brevity of that time. Then because the past couldn’t get to me or at least not well enough the battle moved to the future. There wasn’t even a hint of victory there. I’ve wasted far too many days worrying about next week, month or year and therefore losing that day. I was not about to fall into that trap again. The truth is, sorry Annie, tomorrow may never come. The sun may not come out tomorrow if the Son shows up tonight. Today is really all I have for sure. Oh, I know you’re ahead of me here. Of course that is where the current battle is taking place, in the current day, each day for the past several days. I have woken up with the poke, poke, poking of little demon thoughts. Thanks again to God and to my dear friend Karen I’ve remembered to shut down the poking and praise God before my feet hit the floor. That is certainly unacceptable to the opposition so those long, cold, pointy, far reaching fingers of a championship meddler start in on the rest of my day. Things that normally happen in an instant and then are forgotten are hanging around to poke away.

A couple of very firm, very comfortable relationships in my life now seem a little shaky. Every where I look there is something I need to accomplish, fix or finish and no time in which to do so. I hear a sharp tone in my voice far too often and feel the quiet grip of fear grabbing my intestines in a way that hasn’t happened in quite some time. In the clasp of this cold and ugly manipulation I keep reminding myself that perfect love drives out fear. I seek my Father’s face and there it is. I call on my Savior and he answers me.

Somewhere up ahead I must be going to need more strength or more trust because my Abba is allowing this manipulation, this questioning of self, and this discomfort. He is not allowing the fear. I know it because when I realize that fear is my motivation or that fear is holding me back I feel guilty. I admitted to my husband the other evening that there is one great fear in my life that I have yet to truly turn over to God. I give it to him only to take it back again somewhere down the road. I’m pretty sure that makes him a little angry with me.

I also know that fear is not a part of God’s plan because when I do realize its presence and go to God to overcome he enables me to do just that. There have also been odd little blessings all indirectly connected to my worst fear. I believe that is God’s way of encouraging me to hang in here with him and to trust him.

The words from 1 John coupled with the words from Luke state quite clearly that fear has no place in the life of a child of God. It comes down once again to trust. Do I truly believe that God has my best interests at heart? Do I believe that my Father loves me enough to want what is best for me? Oh, there’s the rub. Too often we let a human image mar our understanding of a perfect God. I was raised by a father who wanted what was best for him, not my sisters and not me. I don’t trust him. Fear was an important component of our relationship. It has taken me a long time to truly place my trust in Father God. For some people it is a once for all event. They may struggle in other areas but their trust in God never wavers. I still have a lot of work in that area. I believe it comes down to embracing the Scriptures above as well as Jeremiah 29:11. Our loving Father has plans for us, good plans, blessed plans, eternal plans. He also loves us with an everlasting perfect love and that leaves no room for fear.

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