Fear

Last Sunday the speaker at the church service we attended referred to some verses about fear that are well-known to me, and I was very grateful to be reminded of them. Here they are, from Matthew 10...

28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Hearing this reminded me of some verses I had seen recently in a devotional I've been reading at night, Prayers and Promises for Mothers. These verses come from Isaiah 51...

12 I, even I, am he who comforts you.
Who are you that you fear mortal men,
the sons of men, who are but grass,
13 that you forget the LORD your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror every day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?

I don't have time or energy to go into this too deeply tonight, but suffice it to say that I was a very fearful child and have battled fear as I have grown up and, I would say, have mostly conquered it, thanks to God's power within me. However, the robbery...well, it definitely opened the door in my mind to fear again. It's not something I deal with all the time; I can easily say it's not "constant terror" like the verse above refers to. But it does hit me at random times. One night recently looking out an upstairs window at the darkness, my thoughts swirled with wondering about who might be out there and what they might be planning to do.

One extremely familiar weapon that I often return to in my arsenal against fear is Psalm 27 which begins...

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.

As I contemplated these three sections of Scripture recently, it struck me how similar they are in theme--why fear men? God is on your side--and I was so glad to have these as tools as in my toolbox as I work to build a peaceful, secure heart and home.