Have you ever been so afraid you realized you were holding your breath? You actually, for fear of what was about to happen, whether real or imagined, stopped breathing, for a moment!

 

The Bible has much to say about fear. It declares that fear has torment (1 John 4:18). It tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). David in the midst of the hardest years of his life wrote in Psalm 34, “I sought the Lord and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”

Recently, during a thunderstorm, I witnessed an amazing sight. I have a dog named Izzy, and she is a big, beautiful dog that you would assume to be fearless. But, when it comes to thunder, she will cower in tormented fear. You can see it in her eyes:  absolute terror. The sad thing is, no matter how I try to comfort her, nothing works. Recently, when the house was shaking with a booming thunder, I witnessed my dog scratching at my clothes closet, nudging it open with her nose and going in to hide from the thunder. Somewhere in that dog’s mind, she told herself “in here I will be safe.” Now, I thought, how ridiculous! That silly dog actually thinks she is safe in that closet. Then it dawned on me. That is exactly what we do as human beings. We devise elaborate plans to insulate ourselves from either real or perceived danger. 

We will alter our lives, refusing to be comforted, to keep from having to confront the issues that cause us to “forget to breath.”   If we are afraid to fly, we will not get on a plane. If we are afraid of the dark, we sleep with a light. If we have been hurt by a relationship, we will refuse to allow ourselves to love. All of these examples have one thing in common, someone, because of fear, is willing to re-arrange their life so that they do not have to experience the fear. There is no way that this is God’s best for our life! He wants us to alter our lives because of love, not fear. There are places He wants us to go and things He wants us to do to demonstrate His love to a dying world.

God wants us to trust Him with our lives. If we don’t trust Him, how will others know He can be trusted? He wants us to know, that no matter the outcome of any situation, because we are His, He is ultimately in control, therefore, everything is going to be alright! God has a plan for all of humanity to know Him and love Him. We love God, because we found out that He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

God wants us to serve Him not out of fear, but in a loving relationship that longs for His children to know Him, trust Him, and love Him. He wants us to jump into His arms, not fearing that He will drop us or reject us. I have included in your packet a CD entitled, “No Fear…Just Jump!”  It is a teaching that my brother, Dr. James J. Watson, ministered at our church. It is an anointed ministry concerning God’s heart for his children, and I encourage you to listen to it, and pass it on to someone that needs to be free from fear and longs for the spiritual guts to…just jump!

Until we see each other again, keep your heart and spiritual ears open to His loving voice. Keep running to Him, without fear, for everyday in Him we can boldly say, “the best is yet to come!”

His Daughter of True Significance,

 

Jeana Gilligan