Facing Fear

As I was reading this morning this verse stood out and I remembered how God used it to deliver me in a very dark time of my life. I often create a verse image as a way of underlining its importance for the day.

Later in the day I met a woman who had just been put into hospice care as I greeted people at the end of the chapel service at nursing home. Kathy was sweet, gentle and yet naturally afraid at knowing she had come to the end of her life. As we talked I shared how God had helped me when I had passed through a time of great fear and anxiety. I wish I could say she instantaneously received peace, but she did begin to become more calm. Then Kathy began to talk about her own experience of needing to perform CPR on her mother. She recalled that time and how difficult it had been being the care giver. We prayed together and committed ourselves to God’s care. I know that finding ourselves weak and helpless is not easy. God loves all the Kathys and the Sues, the Joes and the Bobs. We are all loved whether we are just beginning our voyage or whether we are pulling our boats into shore. God is our light. He is our Salvation. He alone gives us courage at every dark hour. Who shall we fear? He is also the strength of my life and His promise is that every fear will be defeated!

Just Passing Through

Coming home from work I used to pass through a notch in the hills called sugar hollow. The interesting thing about that place was that in late afternoon it lay at just the exact angle to block out most of the sun when it was low on the horizon. You would drive out of bright sunshine into a sort of twilight for a few miles. You never knew you were through the hollow until the shadows lifted and the sun came out again.

That passing through may be what you are experiencing today. Maybe everything seemed pretty normal in your life till unexpectedly the boss called you into the office or the doctor called about those test results. The bright sunshine of your day in a moment changed to a shadowy path. If you are at all like me it feels at those moments that even the most familiar of landmarks seem strangely different in darkness. That is the time to remind ourselves to hang on and keep going. We do not need to panic. Jesus has both called us to the other side and has promised to be with us as we pass through. Whatever deep river, hot fire or dark valley that lies ahead is only temporary. Soon the road He has chosen will lead us into the sunshine and all the way home!

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Fearless!

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4:18 ESV

Terror attacks, earthquakes and endless wars dominate our daily headlines. Sometimes family conflicts and crises make it seem as if our world is closing in around us. In his day, the apostle John had seen Jesus crucified, his own brother executed by King Herod and a crowd of ‘religious people’ stone his friend Stephen to death in the middle of the day. John and been in prison with Peter and was arrested again by the Roman authorities then sent to a penal colony on the Island of Patmos.

Interestingly, when John talks about freedom from fear he doesn’t mention a strong army to come to our defense. He doesn’t talk about the confidence of having good legal representation to defend us or powerful friends in places of influence who will stand up for our rights. John tells us that the best defense against any kind of fear is love! John knew that fear is completely stripped of power in the face of God’s love. That love of God as witnessed in the life of Jesus Christ is strong enough to handcuff our fears and put them under arrest. God’s perfect love is so powerful that no army, no terroristic threat and no human enemy can defeat. And the best news of all is that this perfect love is available to anyone who is ready to receive it. We can’t earn His love and we don’t need to wait to figure it out. With arms opened wide on the cross God’s love receives thieves, forgives crucifiers and blesses fearful disciples. His amazing, unending and perfect love overcomes the world and casts out every fear!

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 …if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there… MATT 17:20