There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love’s complete perfection]. ~1 John 4:18 (AMPCE)
Fear is like an emotional virus. It begins with a thought and then it starts to affect our behavior—just like a flu virus might invade our body with a handshake or a sneeze and then takes over and begins to make us feel miserable in our body, fear makes us feel miserable in our soul and holds us back from having the life we were created to live, experiencing the things God would like to see us enjoy. Fear is the direct result of a lack of confidence. Confidence is faith and confidence in God is what will enable us to reach our fullest potential in life, whether it is in off the charts accomplishments or just maintaining our peace and joy. Some days just maintaining our peace and joy is an off the chart accomplishment! Only confidence in God will enable us to step out of our comfort zone to do something new or different because we know He will never fail or forsake us. Many of us would like to blame where we are today on everything except the fact that we have not moved forward in faith. Fear will cause us to walk away from trusting God and look for ways to hustle and finagle a failing agenda. Only God's agenda will succeed and the sooner we realize that and get on board the better off we will be.
Stepping out in confidence and taking God at His word will open doors no man can shut. We demand a lot of ourselves, but have you ever asked yourself what it's producing? When we demand ourselves to rest, it allows God time to get our ear. Maybe we shouldn’t jump out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off. Maybe we should “slow our roll” so to speak and ask God if there is anything important that He needs to convey to us before we hit the floor running. Maybe the Lord has something to offer that will help us manage our time more efficiently so that we are able to incorporate more rest, more prayer time and even more time in His word into our day. All those disciplines will build and strengthen our faith and enable us to broaden our horizons even more. It's always the right time to expand our comfort zone. The Lord tells us to do that in Isaiah 54:2-4. He tells us “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.” (NIV) What a promise! Doesn’t that just make you want to step out of the familiar and see what God has for you on the horizon? He says if you take Him at His word, you will spread out and your children will dispossess nations. That literally means they will take over everything, the government, the land and all its possessions. We as believers need to set our children up for that kind of victory by demonstrating our confidence in God before them. Trust that God is well able to back you up and make up the difference for what you cannot even fathom you are able to accomplish in this life. He is that big! Don’t let fear rule your life and keep you from God’s best.
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. ~2 Timothy 1:7 (AMPCE)
What are you afraid of?
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