Today’s blog is about Making Space in our lives for courage. Fear is simply a bully. At one point or another, we have all experienced a bully—that person who tries to intimidate and control you. I had a friend in elementary school who was a certified bully. Kids would either avoid her or cower under her domination. I learned something in those early years. I had more than those two choices. I could choose to confront. And this is the same with confronting fear. You don’t have to do things to avoid fear such as people pleasing or feeding this hungry lion. You don’t have to cower under the influence of fear. You have a choice and that is to choose to walk in God’s promise that His perfect love will cast out fear.
Recently I was in a situation that caused me to become anxious. I kept thinking about all of the scenarios that could happen; all the things that could go wrong. I was tempted to find a solution that was a compromise—until…. God spoke to my heart:
Joanne, what are you doing? My response, “I have found a solution to this problem and though it’s not the best solution it will remove this blanket of fear that threatens to overtake me.” Again, God spoke to my heart: Have you thought that maybe I have another solution? Suddenly I woke up from my I-can-fix-this-on-my-own mentality to surrendering the issue to the Lord. I prayed that His love would cover my fear; that His love would do even more than that- it would cast out fear.
There is no fear in love. But perfect loves drives out fear. (I John 4:18)
Friends, fear is a bully. And like most bullies, when confronted, the glass shatters and clarity follows. Take a moment and watch this powerful video.
My favorite line in it is:
There’s a place where fear will have to confront the God you know. Together, let’s commit to standing against the bully, fear. After all, he is just a fragile house of cards that with one blast of God’s love will fall.
