Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that his love has not been perfected in us.

1 John 4:18

I remember many times as a child, waking up from a very shallow sleep at the sound of the house going “bump in the night.” I was petrified of the dark, and though I shared a room with one of my siblings, their presence was of little reassurance as I was lying there wondering, “What was that!?” and they were three sheets to the wind. Violent thunderstorms and even blaring smoke alarms were not enough to wake my brother from his slumber. So I was confident that if a monster jumped out from under the bed, I would be toast and he would not so much as even turn over under his blankets. The older I got, the more my thoughts turned from monsters to intruders, especially considering that our house was one of the few on our street that hadn’t been broken into or vandalized during the night. Growing up in a very large metropolitan area has its pros and its cons! And it was the cons walking the streets at night that really had me tossing and turning at every little noise.

It was literally a nightly occurrence for me to go sprinting from my room to my parent’s room when I had lied in my bed, wide-eyed, staring at the ceiling for what seemed like hours, until I had convinced myself that the last sound I just heard was definitely someone breaking in the house! I would dash down the hall, hoping not to be snatched by a shadowy figure, heart racing, desperate for the safety of my father’s arms and his calming voice.

There were many, many nights when I was sent back to my room with a, “There is nothing to be afraid of” or an “It’s all in your imagination” response. Trust me, at 3:17 a.m., when I’ve been lying there since Johnny Carson went off the air in the living room and my parents turned off the lights and went to bed, I wasn’t in any frame of mind to hear, “It’s all in your imagination!” Sometimes, if I was particularly frightened, my mom would walk me back to bed, tuck me in, and whisper, “There is nothing to fear, sweetheart. Perfect love drives out all fear.” Though I didn’t understand the meaning of it at the time, something about the fact that I knew Mom was quoting Scripture calmed me.

Eventually I outgrew my fear of the dark and the Lord allowed me to become a little less of a shallow sleeper. However, I must admit, I haven’t completely outgrown all fear. I still struggle with fear from time to time in my life, and the verse that my mom would whisper to me still echoes in my mind. I’ve spent some time with that verse and have come to understand its meaning more now than I did as a child.

Fear, you see, is really an opportunity. Life is full of uncertainty, and contrary to popular belief, we are NOT in control. Virtually everyday, in small ways and sometimes large ways, we are faced with situations that will cause us to make a choice. Are we going to have fear or faith? Fear represents the absence of faith, or at least the imperfection of our faith. For as the verse says, perfect love (or complete trust and dependence on God in other words) expels fear. The two cannot exist together. Where there is fear, faith is imperfect. Where there is faith, fear is expelled. The way that God would want us as His children to confront our fears is with our faith! His Word underscores and emphasizes that truth over and over again!

We as a church are also called to exercise faith to overcome our corporate fears. Whether it be a fear of change or a fear of the future or a fear of financial stress in the face of an economic recession, God says, “Trust me!” He says, “I am Your Father and I love you and I’m never going to leave you or forsake you!” Just as I always knew (and still know) that my earthly dad would do everything in his power to protect me and help me, we can rely on our Heavenly Father to do the same! Whenever fear starts to creep into our hearts and minds, we need to learn to recognize it as an opportunity to see God work and allow that fear to bring us to our faith. Even when we don’t understand the reasons behind what is happening in our lives, we still must be able to trust and have faith. We still must obey God’s Word, take Him at His Word, and follow Him.

I am now a parent myself, and I’ve had the wonderful experience of having my children run into my room in the middle of the night, scared because of a noise they’d heard or a bad dream they’d had. I have been the one to sometimes let them crawl into bed with my spouse and I and sometimes to take them back to their room and tuck them in and pray with them in the wee hours of the morning. I am still learning what it is to let God’s love be perfected in me so that I no longer fear and I am trying to take that truth and pass it on to my children like my mom did for me. It is important that they not only hear it from my mouth, but that they see it in my life.

The next time you are confronted with an opportunity to doubt God or question why something is happening or to even be tempted to put yourself on the throne of your life and take control of matters rather than submitting to the Lord, see that for what it is: a divine moment for you to demonstrate your love for God through your faith and trust in His ability to work everything out. God understands our propensity to be afraid, and He wants us to turn that fear into faith by relying on Him.

application

Here are some Bible verses to look up to help you overcome your fear and increase your reliance on God:

prayer

Daddy,

The flash of lightning through the bedroom window seems like such a trivial fear now in comparison with some of the heavy burdens I am carrying. Oh to have fears again so insignificant as a pimple on my face for picture day or whether or not it is going to rain tomorrow when we go to the amusement park. Looking back, the fears that seemed so big back then seem so small now. Now the fears I face seem truly monstrous! How are the bills all going to get paid? What about my job? What about my health or my loved one’s health? Will I ever find happiness? Is this relationship ever going to work out? Can you ever forgive me for what I’ve done? I’m afraid, God. Please help me to see that You are bigger than any fear I have! Please whisper to my heart right now Father that You have everything under control and that I can lay my head down and rest at ease because no one is ever going to harm me on Your watch, and Your watch is forever! Thanks, Daddy! Amen.

Psalm 127:1