We Don't Have to Fear Anything

Todays post is by guest blogger Tristine Fleming. Please check out her blog at NOTE TO SELF: Daily Reminders from God.

Too many people today live in constant fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of taking chances, fear of following their dreams because they have a fear of failure, or worse yet, a fear of success! If the Lord is our Helper, what do we truly have to fear?

REMINDER FROM GOD: I did not give you a spirit of fear, but of love, power and self-control. My perfect love drives out all fear. Don’t fear, those who are with you outnumber those who are not. Be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be dismayed. I AM with you. [My righteous ones] are as bold as a lion. Say with confidence, “The Lord is my Helper, I will not be afraid.” Be men and women of courage, and be strong. You never have to fear disaster, because you are MORE than a conqueror!

{2 Timothy 1:7; 1 John 4:18; 2 Kings 6:16; 1 Chronicles 28:20; Proverbs 28:1; 1 Corinthians 16:13; Zephaniah 3:15; Romans 8:36}

The notion to, “Fear not,” is one of the most repeated commandments in the bible. Did you catch that? “Fear not,” is a commandment. Not an idea, or a desired outcome, or hope, but rather a command from God. John also indicated that because God’s perfect love casts out all fear, if we are still living in fear then we are not in God’s perfect love. Whoa! Raise your hand if you just realized you’re not living in God’s perfect love.

The word afraid is mentioned in the New Testament thirty-five times, while the word fear shows up eighty-three times. When we consider Paul’s letter to Timothy when he declares, “God has not given you a spirit of fear,” the Greek word used is, deilia, or deiliao, which refers to being cowardice or timid. In other words, God didn’t create you to be a scardy cat, He created you to be bold and powerful, but you need to use that power in love, while having self-control of that boldness so it doesn’t cross over into pride.

Keri Wyatt Kent, author of, “Deeper into the Word: New Testament,” describes it like this:

“Fear of God means having a right-sized view of ourselves and God…When we fear God, we don’t have to fear anything else.”

How we see God is typically how we will see ourselves. I know there are many moments in my life when I feel God “can’t” do something. I didn’t have a “right-sized view” of God, therefore, I typically find myself trembling in fear that my situation will never change.

In the devotional, Growing with Purpose, author Jon Walker explains:  “God didn’t create you to fail; he created you to succeed…” (The God-Chip; pg. 15). I then began to make a list of the biggest fears I have and most of them had to do with failure. Walker then instructed:  “Tell God your fears and ask Him to replace your fears with faith.” So after writing my fears, I didn’t merely ask God to replace them with faith, I went a step further. I wrote HOW God has given me a spirit to succeed.

This was my list. Fear (Faith).

Fear of failing as a mother. (God created me to be a good mother!)
Fear of failing as a writer. (God gave me the gift to write!)
Fear of failing at success. (God gives me the abilities to succeed!)
Fear of living in poverty. (God IS my Provider!)

Take some time today and make a similar list. I challenge you to consider your fear and how you can overcome it by faith, courage, and power (all the things God has already given to us!).

Tristine Fleming is a freelance writer, compassionate volunteer, semi-frazzled stay at home mommy, lover of food, recipe treasure hunter, and all around great cook (and is a sucker for pastries, cakes, books, magazines, and fancy shoes). She attended Columbia College of Chicago as a Fiction Writing major, and resides in Kenosha, Wisconsin with her husband Jared, and their near-three year old son, Tavin. Her blog, NOTE TO SELF: Daily Reminders from God, has blessed and encouraged men and women across the globe, and is linked to international charity organizations such as Gospel for Asia and Compassion International.  Since November 2011, Tristine’s blog has inspired readers to sponsor fourteen children through Gospel for Asia’s, Bridge of Hope program.

What is God preventing you from doing?

by Timothy Howe

This week I am focusing on Acts 16 in which Paul and his companions take the gospel to Macedonia, in what is our first record of the gospel reaching Europe. It was a time of an unparalleled advance of the Gospel. It is easy to assume that all went according to plan. But this would be wrong.


Paul was already successful in ministry 
You will recall that Paul possessed a very fruitful ministry up to this point and  had previously experienced a successful missionary journey. Now he was revisiting some of the places where he had started churches. 


Paul had a good strategy
Paul's strategy up to this point was to go first to the synagogue, reason with the members how Christ fulfilled the scriptures, and work with believers in starting a new congregation. This strategy led his team to start numerous churches.


Paul had a good plan
Paul began this second missionary trip for the purpose of strengthening the churches which had been founded on the earlier trip. This was a good idea considering the hostility they were subject to. During this time he determined to set out to a new region to spread the gospel. This made sense based on what he had already accomplished. 


God prevented Paul from carrying out his plan
Next something strange happened. The Scriptures tell us that the Spirit of Jesus prevented Paul from going to this new region. This does not make human sense. Paul was already doing a good work. We should presume that he would have been just as successful in this new area. Certainly, it would have been good to carry the gospel to a new place. 


God wants what is best
Human sense does not compare to a Divine plan. Yes, it would have been good to start churches in the new region, but God was less interested in what was good. Instead, He pushed Paul towards what was best. God had a plan so much bigger than Paul could have imagined. This week we will see what that plan was. But first, we need to understand that in order to carry out His plan for Paul's life, God had to first prevent Paul from accomplishing Paul's plan for his life. 


What is God preventing you from doing right now?
Whenever you get frustrated that things are not going as expected, it might not be that things are just not working out. Ask yourself the question - "What is God preventing me from doing?" This will help you to open your eyes to see what else he might have in store.