FEAR

F-E-A-R!  Oh even the word itself gives me chicken skin.

Do you know that we are told over 30 times in the Bible to not fear. So why don’t we listen?

I love the Lord passionately. I am in His Word every day and pray A LOT and I still feel like one of the biggest scaredy cats you have ever met. As Zach Williams sings “Fear is a Liar” and this is something I have to remind myself of daily.

When I feel fear coming over me, I go directly to God. Does He always take it away immediately? No. But when I pray and go to a place of gratefulness and thankfulness, fear does subside.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:4-7 (NRSV)

To give you a visual example of what it looks like to dwell on fear instead of faith as a mom, I think of things in my home.

I don’t know what your fridge looks like, but mine usually has a few tupperware containers that have something that once resembled food in them. Have you ever had one of your family members take one out, smell it and then turn to you and say “Smell this. It smells awful!”  How often do you actually smell it? Probably more than any of us would like to admit.

Well I see fear as the nasty food. Even though we know that it stinks and we don’t need to smell it, we still put our nose right in the dish.  We have been told not to fear, but we still do.

As mamas, a lot of our fears are for our children. Let’s face it; we live in a pretty scary time. School violence around every corner, suicide rates on the increase, the reality that God is not welcome in most of our schools.

We have a lot of protecting to do. But mamas, our kids are His and He is always watching out for them.

The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.  Psalm 121:7-8 (NIV)

If we reacted to every fear we had, our children would never leave our home and be covered in bubble wrap, but then we would fear lack of social interaction! See, it is an endless battle. But praise the Lord our Savior, our King of Kings, our Prince of Peace. He is always with us and we run to Him and are safe!

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”  Romans 8:15 (HCSB)

So next time that stinky fear starts to creep in, go directly to your Savior!

Matt Redman sings it so well in his song, You Never Let Go. “I will fear no evil, for my God is with me. And if my God is with me, whom than shall I fear? Oh no, you never let go, through the calm and through the storm. Oh no, you never let go, in every high and every low. Oh no, you ever let go. Lord, you never let go of me.”

So mamas, our God never let’s go of us!

Those who are righteous will be long remembered. They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.  Psalm 112:6b-8 (NLT)

When you don’t feel up to the task of carrying out God’s mission with strength and courage, Start With Praise. This 40-day devotional will help empower you to live boldly for Christ. Find out more.

 

Sarah Maranville recently left her job to help on their family farm. She is now spending more time with her family and in her role as Moms in Prayer area coordinator and group leader. Sarah and her husband Scott live on the eastern plains of Colorado where they farm and ranch. They have three children: Riley, Wesley (who went to be with the Lord in 2015) and Charley.