In this life we have many opportunities to fear. If you don’t believe me just read the newspaper! Identity theft, murder, infidelity, rebellious teens, tax increases… Oh, and your house will be demolished next month to make way to a newly planned regional road …
Jesus clearly told us, however, that we have nothing to fear, for one simple reason: He has overcome this world! “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NIV)
If we put Him in the driver’s seat of our hearts, fear will not be able to touch us! It’s all a question of trust and control.
In addition, we are promised that “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.” (1 John 4:18 NIV)
It is true that true love in hard to find on our planet, but if we give Jesus the reins of our lives, we can welcome pure love into our heart. Who else could love us this much?
“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.” (John 3:16 The Message)
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:38-39 NIV)
Letting Jesus rule our hearts is an adventure that we can anticipate, one filled with utter peace and excitement!
“So I never lose sight of your love, But keep in step with you, never missing a beat.” (Ps 26:3 The Message)
“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom 8:31-32 NIV)
And believe me, true love does drive away fear!
Although I was born in the Flanders, keeping up with Dutch is much easier said than done, especially if you have lived in North American for 30 years, where English is the primary language.
So last summer when I arrived at the railroad station of my hometown, I had some misgivings about using my decrepit and fossilized Dutch. I felt an urge to try it, though, and as I approached the taxi driver, I uttered my own version of the Dutch language … To my amazement, the driver understood me! Either that, or my gestures were so clear that it didn’t matter what came out of my mouth!
As I sat next to him in the cab, I forced myself to talk to him. I’m sure he was thinking, “What a weirdo!” I mean, how would you feel if someone talked to you like this: “Me fine. Town here beauty! That there a grocery store? Me good. You good?”
How pathetic I must have sounded to his poor ears!
He kept on smiling, however, and he continuously encouraged me to go on. In fact, a genuine admiration and acceptance radiated from him, and all of a sudden he turned to me and exclaimed: “You speak an excellent Dutch my friend!”
Had he known I used to live there, he may have had his own misgivings! However, it was then and there that I experienced “perfect love drives out fear”. Nowhere else in my town had I felt such confidence in my ability to make myself understood in Dutch! Why? Because the taxi driver accepted me for who I truly was, and instead of being critical, he encouraged me.
Where love reigns, fear disappears!
Are we willing to let God’s love reign in our heart? Only then, and solely then will we have no fear, no matter what the circumstances.
“Me finished. Good day to you. No fear! Love! Capito?”
Rob Chaffart
(To access the entire “Fear Factor Considerations” devotional series, please click here.“