At the Intersection of Faith and Fear

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          One thing that we can count on is encountering obstacles in our Christian walk. Fear is one of these huge obstacles for many Christians, and if left unchecked, it can become paralyzing. Continuing with the driving metaphor…one of the things I’ve learned through years of experience is that I will generally steer where I am looking; it only stands to reason that if I begin looking at my obstacles—fear in this case—I’m only going to head straight into the trouble I am hoping to avoid. This sounds counter-intuitive, but it is so true. My focus determines which path I take. If I’m fixated on my fear, I will generally avoid making decisions—at least any sound ones—and that typically gets me in trouble. In the past, I’ve often failed to realize that making no decision because I’m afraid of making a wrong one IS making a decision, and it’s rarely a good one.  When I let fear take over and it paralyzes me, things escalate pretty quickly, turning my life into one big wreck. So if I want to avoid trouble in my Christian journey, my goal is to keep my eyes fixed on “Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2, NASB).  If my eyes shift from my fear to Jesus, my fear recedes in the face of His power and what He has already accomplished for me and in me: “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” (I Jn. 4:18). I have no reason to fear the love of my Saviour.
While we typically encourage people by reminding them of what they do have, ironically, in II Timothy 1:7, Paul encourages Timothy by reminding him first of what God had not given him—fear: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (NKJV). In the Bible, God tells us in both the Old and New Testaments specifically to be without fear (Don’t be afraid!), and He does this +100 times in various ways. That tells me that not only is fear common to us in our frail human bodies, but also that He has provided what we need to overcome it—His power, His encouragement, His faithfulness, and most of all, His love. I am including a few of my favorite verses about not fearing below:
v Ps. 23:4
v Deut. 31:6
v Matthew 10:28
v Romans 8:15
v I Peter 3:13-14
v I Cor. 16:13 (not just for men…)
v Heb. 13:5-6
v Isa. 41:10-13
v Isa. 54:4
v Ps. 27:1
v Ps. 103:17
v Ps. 115:11
v Ps. 118:6
v Jn. 14:27
So steer away from your fear this week, and steer toward the love and strength of Jesus Christ!

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