True story: I slept with the light on until I was 20 years old… and got married. I’d had a perpetual fear of the dark. I was pretty sure there were no monsters under my bed or in the closet, but the control freak in me at least wanted to be able to see whatever otherwise might get me while I was sleeping. I’d like to say I conquered my fear of the dark when I got married, but the truth is, I just didn’t think being newly married with the light on would work so well. You can fill in the blanks on that one all by yourself.
Fear is a hot topic. Do a quick Google search if you’re not sure. “Fear” generates over 1.1 billion results. What’s interesting to me is that “battling fear” only has 34 million results. Surely that should be the hotter topic.
FEARLESS is my #justoneword for 2019. I didn’t choose “fearless” because I wanted to be +1 results for Google. And since I’ve already conquered my “leave the light on” problem, that’s not the reason either. So why did I choose fearless? It’s simple:
fearing God leaves me fearless in the world.
The more I fear God, the less I fear my problems and challenges.
The more I fear God, the less I fear what others might say or think about me.
The more I fear God, the less I fear difficult relationships.
The more I fear God, the less I fear failure.
The more I fear God, the less I fear the unknown.
The more I fear God, the less I fear the world.
The secret to battling fear… to being FEARLESS … is not in any pop psychology or self-help book, no matter what Google might tell you. Found only in the Bible, the divine secret is FEARING God.
I’ve often heard the Bible has 365 verses… one for every day of the year… to remind us to “fear not.” Interestingly enough, the word “fear” is only found in the NIV translation I use 271 times. When I read through all 271 verses, I’m reminded far more frequently to fear God than I am to “fear not” something else. And in those verses where I’m reminded to “fear not,” it’s because of God { Joshua 1:9, Isaiah 43:1, Isaiah 41:10, and many more! }.
The truth is this: When we have God in His proper place… when we fear Him, there is no reason to be afraid of anything else. God is for us. God is with us. God is in us. God is our help and strength. When we know God… when we fear Him… we will be fearless!
You might not have cared why I chose FEARLESS for my #justoneword this year, but I’m sharing anyway because I wanted to leave the Light on for you!
when we know Him, we’ll make Him known,
“When Jesus spoke again to the people,
he said, “I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12