I think we imagine in our heads God is saying to us “daughter, YOU’VE got this. Sure it looks scary but you can overcome this. Once you do it a few times you will feel more and more confident and you will be able to do anything you set your mind to.”
I think, in reality, this is more how it sounds: God says, “daughter, I’ve got this. It may look scary but my perfect love casts out fear. Remain in me. Stay in my perfect love and fear will leave you. Don’t try harder, believe me more! It’s your belief in me and my Word that will cause you to trust me in every situation to be good, gracious, kind, and loving. I am your provider, protector, and your strength. You are hidden in me and seated in heavenly places. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead? He lives inside of you. He gives you power to do what I have called you to do. You have me – the Lord of Heavens Armies by your side in this. DO NOT BE AFRAID!”
Courage is choosing to not be afraid by choosing to trust God. That is not a popular notion. Nearly every day I see someone online or hear a speaker declaring that courage is being afraid but doing it anyway. The problem is that the Bible does not confirm this. I cannot find a single place that God tells us to be afraid of something and even more so just to do what we are afraid of anyway. I think it sounds good to us because we feel afraid and don’t know what to do with our fear so we tell ourselves to muster up the courage and do it anyway. It’s a dangerous trap that we need to be careful of. Fear is a spirit that God has not given us (2 Timothy 1:7).
We read words similar to “fear not” and “do not be afraid” nearly 365 times in the Bible and yet we continue to tell one another to “just do it afraid.” God tells us in Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid.” We take the courageous part and make up a story to ourselves that feeling courageous means feeling the fear and doing the thing we are afraid of anyway. I think that’s why God followed it up immediately with “Do not be afraid.” He wants us to know that His heart is to make us courageous AND unafraid.
So, if God is telling us to be courageous AND not be afraid how do we do that? Fear is prevalent and I’ve fought those battles where I couldn’t feel anything but fear.
In the 23rd Psalm David says this:
The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows;
He leads me beside peaceful streams.
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.
Even when I walk through the valley of death I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me…
All throughout that chapter David – the one who fought and killed the lion and bear, who stood up to Goliath and claimed victory before he even saw the outcome – says all this stuff about how “He” (God) will do all these things but when David gets to the part about being afraid he turns the finger on himself and says “I will not be afraid.”
How did David determine that with such confidence that he would not be afraid? I think it’s because he knew he had a choice. We all have a choice – fear or peace.
Jesus says in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Do not let your heart be afraid. This implies that we have a say, a choice in the matter. Jesus tells us 2 times in that scripture that he left us peace and gives us peace. When Jesus left the earth He did something so amazing for us. He gave us the Holy Spirit.
In Galatians 5:22 we read what the character (or fruit) of the Holy Spirit is. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
What do we have to do to have these things? Jesus already told us that He was giving us peace. And just like David made a choice we have a choice. We can stand and say “I will not be afraid. I choose peace. I am accepting what the Holy Spirit offers me and I chose peace and not fear.”
Have you ever seen a wardrobe valet for guys that is basically a place to set clothing, a watch, and shoes in preparation for dressing the next day? I believe that we have a spiritual wardrobe butler that is at our disposal each and every day. It holds the armor of God and the fruit of the Spirit. It is there waiting for us each day. It is ready and waiting and available but we have a choice about whether or not to pick it up and use it each day.
FRIENDS, WE GET TO PICK UP PEACE EACH AND EVERY DAY! Why wouldn’t we?? Why on earth would we just accept fear, wear it and live in it? Let’s stop. We can take God at His Word that He has given us peace. It is ours.
So, when you feel fear but want to trust God and do the thing you are afraid of anyway ask God for His perspective. Ask Him what you should be afraid of (hint: He’ll say nothing). Give Him your fears and permission to change you from fearful to fearless. Watch the courage He will give you to tackle what He’s asked you to do.
We get to be fearless when we chose peace over and over again. Fear will present itself to us over and over again and want to convince us that we don’t have a choice but we do!
Whatever fear you have holding you back from stepping out into God’s fullness for your life – I would ask you this – WHO TOLD YOU TO BE AFRAID? God never tells us to be afraid. The enemy of our souls is the one who always tells us to be afraid.
Imagine a world full of women who take the world by storm for Jesus because we have no fear?!
