Daily Delight
I often find myself gripped by fear.
Fearing the what if’s, things that haven’t even happened, made up scenarios in my mind, you name it. The worst is at night when I lay my head down and it’s presence is so strong my heart feels strangled.
I cry and pray for relief, for protection, pleading with God to be the Protector He is. We live in a world where violence and evil is rampant. We see it daily, and sometimes we are personally even victims of it.
How is it possible to not live in fear?
This past week, God said, “Enough.” I have lived this way long enough. The only One I am to fear is God alone. Fearing everything but Him has kept me tightly bound to fear itself. Stepping out from the stronghold of my distress and instead fearing our Heavenly Father expands my territory and authority in Christ.
In the words of John Piper, to fear God means “to grasp the wonder of the gospel that a holy and righteous God would take on flesh and enter into this sin-stained world to rescue us from the clutches of death.”
The holy fear of God keeps us in His will. He is a loving Father, yes, but fearing Him encourages us to not stray from His Word. Psalm 25 says that when we fear the Lord, He will ‘instruct [us] in the ways we should choose’ and we will ‘spend [our] days in prosperity’. It even says God will ‘confide’ in those who fear Him.
The holy fear of God allows us to be bold. It encourages us to step out of our trepidation with the strength to say, “Enough!”, declaring that you will not live in fear.
The peace and hope our hearts crave come from our Heavenly Father. He commands us to ‘fear not’ because He is our deliverer. He is greater than any foe, any evil, any scary circumstance we encounter. Be strong and courageous! (Joshua 1:9, Psalm 27:1).
Fear not and stand with me, friend, as we instead fear our Mighty God. Let us step into the boldness of His authority and our authority in Him as believers.
When fear begins to grip your heart with its lies, go to the truth written in Romans 8:31-39 and remember, we ‘are more than conquerors’.
About the Author
Rebecca Wager
Rebecca is almost 40, loving and living in sunny Arizona. She is married to her best friend Chris and together they have their rainbow baby (now toddler) Charlotte. In addition to chasing her sweet daughter around, she enjoys time with family, pretending she’s on The Great British Baking Show and being outdoors.
She loves diving deeper into religious studies, writing, getting happily lost in a book and can’t get through the day without a large amount of espresso.
Rebecca is passionate about Jesus, reminding women of their worthiness in Christ and desires to see women thrive in their God dreams. You can connect with her on Instagram here and follow along with her blog, For the Worthy Mom, here!