Fear Not

Today has been a good day. Each day, particularly each day that I have concerns about (maybe I have to do something that is a stretch or I need courage for, or perhaps I am feeling unwell, etc), I try to start by saying, 'This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it' (Psalm 118: 24). Well today, I am able to rejoice and be glad in it.

I had to do the morning school run today. 'So what?' I hear you ask. Well since becoming very unwell back in the second half of 2011 I haven't been able to do it consistently. My husband has been doing it for me, which has been possible through a reasonably understanding employer and then the start of our business and being able to be more flexible in our work. I have done the odd morning, but it has always been with great difficulty.

But today I had to do the morning school run, and praise God I slept reasonably well (normally when faced with a challenge the following day I sleep badly and struggle sometimes to sleep at all), and have felt good all day. I have been able to be very productive, and although starting to feel tired now, I have a lot on for the rest of the day and feel able with God's help to face it. True, God is working through the new medication, which is making life so much more manageable and situations so much easier to face, but it is still God.

Last week God spoke to me through various things and I came to realise that I had been starting to worry again and was being harassed by a 'fear of lack'. He spoke very clearly through some of Joyce Meyer's words, from one of her devotionals:

"One of the biggest fears that people face is the fear of lack. It’s the fear that your needs won’t be met – that you’ll run out of resources and that God won’t come through for you in time.

You may be in a situation of lack that you’ve never been in before, in desperate need of finances or other resources to simply meet your basic needs. Maybe you’re facing an emotional or spiritual lack. The spirit of fear might be attacking you, telling you that God cannot meet your needs and that you won’t make it.

You need to know today that the enemy is a liar, and God cares about your situation. He has a plan and He is working on your behalf to provide what you need at the right time. Even when it seems like nothing is coming your way, God always knows how to miraculously provide.

Whatever your needs may be – financial, physical, emotional, spiritual – you don’t have to fear lack. God will provide for you, comfort you, nourish you and bring you back to a place of strength. Trust in His provision."

God also spoke to me through After Earth, a movie I watched at the weekend. In the film Will Smith is playing a General called Cypher Raige. He is speaking to his son Kitai Raige (played by his real son Jaden Smith), explaining how he gained the ability of what they called 'ghosting' - moving with almost no fear, so that the alien enemies hunting humans could not sense him. He says:

"Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present, and may not ever, exist. That is near insanity Kitai. Now, do not misunderstand me - danger is very real. But fear is a choice."

God made me realise that when I allow fear to start creeping back in, I am walking back into the enemy's territory. He says to us through the Bible, in fact He commands us, to 'fear not'. He says it over and over to Joshua, to fear not for He is with him. But it doesn't mean 'Don't be afraid'. It means, do not allow fear to stop you doing what God tells you to do.

Well, God is also with us. Just because we can't always see Him, or sense Him, or hear Him, doesn't make Him any less real. In fact I am convinced that He is more real than we are. I have been afraid of potential, as yet unseen, future outcomes. But yet, in spite of all my worrying, I am still here, I am safe, I am getting better, I am warm, I am fed and I have so very many reasons to rejoice. Worrying has never gained me anything. But fear has prevented me from many things. Fear has truly proved to be, in the long term, False Evidence Appearing Real (F.E.A.R.).

A long time ago I felt God call me to do something, to use a certain skill set He had given me to step out for Him. Doing this blog is part of that calling, but there is still so much I have left undone because I am scared. I have stepped out before and been rejected, hurt and laid aside, and it almost broke my spirit. I feel God is now saying to me, to all those who love Him, to 'fear not'. To step out.

Today I was able to deal with a situation that has in the past made me unwell, and dealt me some very bad memories. But today God has planted a good memory that will help overcome the past. And I am very grateful.

Today I would encourage you to consider what is holding you back from where you would like to be? Is fear trying to prevent you from stepping out? I pray that you and I can lay aside our fears and worries one by one, and step out into all that God has for us, as we daily and hourly choose to trust Him over believing the fear. It is said that each journey begins with even the smallest of steps. May we all make steps forward, no matter how small, as we journey through this week.

May your week be truly blessed, and may God meet you where you're at : )