37 weeks pregnant with our third child. It has been a relatively smooth pregnancy. A very active little boy is growing inside me. However, as I am just 3 weeks away from his arrival I am facing fear. Fear of the pain. Fear of mothering a boy. Fear of having 3 littles 4 years old and under. Fear that I am not capable. Fear of failing every day.
Have you ever had a moment like that? A time when you feel you should be so happy and joyful? A time when everyone around you is more excited then you? A time when fear is pushing out the joy?
Fear. It is an interesting emotion. Fear. What do we do as followers of Christ when we feel fear?
We know we should not have fear, anxiety or worry. We know we should trust God because He is faithful. We know we should cast our anxieties upon Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). We know we should not worry about what we will eat or wear because we are more precious than sparrows (Matt 6:26). We know these truths. We have even seen them displayed in our own lives. And yet when that ball of fear comes and attacks our hearts we struggle to trust. Struggle to fight off the ball of fear in our minds and in our hearts.
As I write I find myself in that place. The place between fear and trust. The place between knowledge and faith. How do we move the truth we know from head to heart? How do we let Truth do a work in us and come out as faith and trust in God?
Fear has a way of pulling a dark veil over our eyes. Fear has a way of suffocating our faith. Fear has a way of trampling our hope.
But God did not give us a spirit of fear. He does not want us to live blind, struggling to breathe, and defeated. Whenever fear comes we must recognize it is not of the Lord. Whenever fear tries to make a home we must put on our armor. We must believe that this fear does not belong in our hearts. God desires for us to have hope, joy and peace. God did not design us to walk in the darkness of fear. God created us for light. To walk in the light we must be vigilant, aware, on the look out –always.
Fear comes when we become stagnant, comfortable, and unwilling to grow or change. Fear comes when we seek things of this world more than God. Fear comes when we walk more by sight than by faith.
There is a pattern to fear. We need to ask for wisdom to recognize it. God gave us an armor. A mighty armor to defeat any and every fear. God will fight all your fears. Lean in, ask Him. He is always ready to remove the dark veil. He is always willing to hold us and fight for us. God is for us.
Whatever fear you are facing today, God is greater. God is more powerful than any fear trying to suffocate. Walk in light, choose to walk in light today and every day. God has equipped you to fight back the dark, the fear. God has given you the armor for every battle. Put it on. (Ephesians 6) You are worth it! God gave His Son so you can walk in light.
All who confess Jesus is the Son have God living in them. And God is love. As we live in God and God lives in us, love grows and is perfected. It is this perfect love that casts off fear. (1 John 4:15-18) The love growing, maturing inside you is fighting your battle. Love is more powerful than any other force. Love won victory over death. Love washed away sin. Love can expel your fear, anxiety, and worry today!
Love has won so I can choose to let the fear, worry and anxiety of number 3 fall. I can let this Love grow and mature in my heart. I can praise Him for the work He is and will continue to do in my life and the life of this precious little boy. I am choosing Truth. The words He wrote long ago still ring true. His Words, His love are doing a work in this heart.
I am capable because He is able. I can endure the pain because He was on the cross. I can raise a boy because he is a gift from God. I can face every day because He extends grace.
There is always truth to combat every fear! Love and Truth have won.
1 Peter 5:7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. ESV
Matthew 6:25-26 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? NLT
John 8:12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” NLT
1 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. NKJV
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. NIV
1 John 4:15-18 All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. NLT
