Fear Not

‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Isaiah 41:10

I’m not sure about you, but I’m really good at worrying. I worry more than anything about money, but I also extend my expertise to the subject of friends, family, and especially work! Over the last few months I’ve started Ivy Sharston church, and what started out like an exciting idea a few months back soon crept up and became a reality. Being a worrier, I had a few moments where the anxiety and fear about leading a church, who would come, whether I was ready and all that stuff was pretty much all that was in my head, add to that worries about some of the guys I’m working with leaving prison and things outside work, I can relate to the Psalmist when he wrote that he felt like his “foot was slipping”!

Fortunately for me, God is able to work through us despite our fear and anxiety, and He has shown me just how feeble we are when we try to solve or work through what we are doing carrying fear and worry with us. Scripture shows us over and over that God supports and comforts us when we at our weakest, and He tells us over and over again not to be afraid or anxious.

When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.

Psalm 94:18-19

One of my favourite Scriptures, and one that I probably share as often as any other is from Philippians, and is a promise of a transaction that occurs when we hand our anxiety over to God in prayer with thanksgiving; we take our burdens and worries off our shoulders and give them to God, and He promises that we’ll be given His peace, which guards our hearts and minds:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

I’ve been reminded over the last few weeks that being in the habit of doing exactly this – letting go of you anxieties, fears and worries in prayer – is a wonderful part of being a Christian. It is also something God tells us to do throughout the whole of the Bible. A search of the Scriptures shows us that:

Based on these statistics I’m pretty confident in declaring that as Christians, fear is something we are asked not to do! We can replace our fear with faith, faith that we will be strengthened, helped and upheld by God when we feel out of control.

Reading on in Philippians 4, the author – Paul – tells us that we should focus our mind and thoughts on the right things:

…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:8-9

We need to turn down the volume on what is wrong, unholy, untrue, unlovely, imperfect and not praiseworthy, and turn up the volume on what is pure, lovely, noble excellent and praiseworthy, listening only to God’s truths about us, in whatever situation we find ourselves in.

I pray for you today that you would know God’s unfailing love, supporting you, and that when anxiety creeps into your mind that the Holy Spirit’s consolation brings joy to your soul.