There is No Fear in Perfect Love

FEAR.

That four letter word carries so much weight.

How Things Are

Fear affects so many things. It is the killer of love, joy, peace, comfort, etc. It can control our actions, thoughts, behaviors, and motives.

Most of the time we experience a negative emotion it comes from fear.

1. We get mad when our husbands spend a lot of time with their friends = fear he will love them more than me

2. We micromanage and control people = fear of things not getting done to our standard

3. We don't get close to people = fear of being abandoned

4. We don't talk to new people = fear of being rejected

5. We don't speak truth in love to people = fear of being not liked

6. We want to live forever = fear of dying

The list goes on and on. Many health problems stem from us being fearful and it manifesting in the forms of stress and anxiety.

My Story

If I could pick a theme to describe this past year, it would be God conquering my fears. I am naturally so shy and insecure that I avoid people and vulnerable interactions at all costs. I was the girl in grade school who never said a word. The girl in high school who had to get drunk so I could muster up enough courage to talk to people and make friends. I was the girl in college who went to class and then straight to her dorm room, ignoring everyone in her path. Above all, I was that girl who would never in a million years speak in front of people nor lead people. Why you may ask? All because I am afraid of rejection and failure resulting from saying or doing something wrong.

I missed out on making friends to have around to help me grow closer to Jesus, intentionally pursuing people to love on and show Jesus, memories, and above all - being used by God to share the gospel. God can't use us when we are hiding from our fears in the shadows.

God calls us to walk outside of our comfort zones in unfamiliar territories. In my own story, He did just that. He used people in my life like my husband, Jonathan, to help build me up. God instilled in me a desire to not be content with living the simple and easy life as a Christian, but instead with a burning passion to continue to have God show me how to be used for His glory at all costs.

It's so beautiful to look back and see God's hand in my life thus far. He used my husband, family, church, work, and friends to grow me so much. He continued to put opportunities in my life to step outside of my comfort zone and be used by Him. Sometimes I ran like a little baby and other times I obeyed.

He Can Make Beauty From the Ashes

I would have never in a million years think I would lead anything knowing how insecure I am, but how lucky are we that God has different plans for our lives than we do. He called me to lead a women's bible study and the teens in our church's youth group. Every time my heart would pound and I would sweat. I cannot downplay my nervousness and fear of failure.

Each time, I stepped out in faith, I believed more and more that this is not about me and not through my own strength, but Jesus alone. Each time, I saw how powerful God is that He could use a scared little girl like me to impact peoples' lives for His glory. Each time, my relationship with Jesus grew more intimate since I HAD to trust Him with my fear for I knew I could not do it without Him.

One Sunday our youth group wanted to have the leaders share what God is doing in our lives. Just a week prior, I would have never entertained the idea of speaking, but that day I felt God nudging me to speak. After thinking of 100 ways to get out of it, God changed my heart. I wanted to get up there and speak to show just how amazingly powerful God is. Jesus conquers fears and the mere fact I got up to speak and He calmed my nerves, I know 100% there is a God...because if it were up to me I would never risk being outside of my comfort zone.

Think About This

What if God's greatest glory is when we trust Him through our biggest fear?

What if He wants to conquer our greatest fear so we cannot boast, but instead all to Him be the glory.

What if the very thing we fear the most brings God the greatest glory because we surrender and let Him conquer it.

Our Hope

Let me just tell you, we don't have to live in fear any longer! Jesus is our hope. Jesus is our answer. Similar to my story, there is hope for your story. I don't know what fear you are facing but Jesus can and already has slain it for you when He was crucified and died a bloody death on the cross for our sins so we could have a relationship with Him. He rose to life on the third day defeating death! 1 John 4:18: "For there is no fear in love, but yet perfect love casts out fear". Jesus is perfect love and He and only He can cast out all our fears. I pray you accept Jesus into your life and live a life free of bondage.

IF JESUS DEFEATED DEATH, THEN JESUS CAN CONQUER ANY FEAR IN OUR LIFE.