Do Not Fear

Has God moved in your heart to say or do something, yet you hesitated—or maybe refused—because of fear? Maybe you didn’t even recognize it as fear. It just crept in, and you found yourself thinking that it wouldn’t work. Or perhaps you thought about the rejection you might receive. You considered the friend or family member you might lose. You reasoned it wouldn’t make a difference anyway. The list of possibilities that run through our minds is endless. And whatever God has moved us to do never gets done.

Fear comes in many forms, but it has one source—Satan—and one purpose, to thwart the will of God. The enemy knows we are fallen creatures, prone to shrink from difficulty, adversity, and rejection. We’re prone also to look to ourselves and conclude that we’re not strong enough, not bold enough, and not equipped enough. If we focus on the situation and on ourselves, fear will win the upper hand. However, when we focus on God, we’re set free from that spirit of fear.

“For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7 King James). Yes, God has given us the opposite of fear; He’s given us power. It’s hard to grasp with the natural mind the power that God has given us, which is why the Apostle Paul prayed for believers to understand it. He said, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:18-19 NASB).

Can you imagine how we would live if we truly understood this and walked in it? I, for one, am meditating on this. When God calls me to do His will, I don’t want to be arrested by fear. I want to go in the power of His Holy Spirit. I want to go with these words ringing in my ear: “Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

Heavenly Father, I praise You because greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. Though the enemy tempts me to fear, I thank You that You have given me a spirit of power. Help me to know the surpassing greatness of your power toward us who believe, and to walk in it, in Jesus’ name, Amen.