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If you fear... read here

The word fear is found over 435 times in scripture. There are countless Godly resources that can be found on the topic, this brief article is my attempt to tackle the topic of fear. I cannot think of a more frequented topic for women than that of fear, which in my opinion stems from two things: too small fear of the Lord and the need to control; to control our lives, our surroundings, our loved ones. We too often think that we know better than God and sit in anxiety of what He may be bringing, fearing not being able to handle all that He brings. More than any other resource, obviously we should look to His word. Below are a few scriptures (many of which may be familiar, but I pray that they will fall on fresh ears) that I have found comfort in, as I along with you am praying to never again allow fear to take a hold in my life.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Exodus 20:20Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”

Deuteronomy 3:22 You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.’

Deuteronomy 6:13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.

Deuteronomy 8:6 So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him.

Deuteronomy 13:4 You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.

Deuteronomy 31:6,8 “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. ”He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 25:14 The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.

Psalm 86:11 Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.

Psalm 103:10-12 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Psalm 103:13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

Psalm 118:5-7 Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my helper;

Proverbs 9:10The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Isaiah 41:13 For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”

Isaiah 44:7-9 Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. 8 Fear not, nor be afraid;have I not told you from of old and declared it?
And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me?
There is no Rock; I know not any.”

Jeremiah 5:21-24 “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes, but see not,
who have ears, but hear not. Do you not fear me? declares the Lord. Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
though they roar, they cannot pass over it. But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
they have turned aside and gone away. They do not say in their hearts,
‘Let us fear the Lord our God,
who gives the rain in its season 
the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.’ Your iniquities have turned these away,
and your sins have kept good from you.

Luke 12:4-6  “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God.

Romans 8:14-16 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”  The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

2 Timothy 1:6-7  For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Hebrews 13:6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

Psalm 127:2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Isaiah 35:3-4 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.

4 Say to those who have an anxious heart,“Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God
will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”

Jeremiah 17:7-9 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.” The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Matthew 6:25-34  “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Luke 10: 38-42 38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”  But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Philippians 4:5-7 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious 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.

I pray that some of the verses above you will commit to memory and use as a weapon against the evil one; the father of lies, who feeds us many fears. O, Lord may we be women who believe truth, who run from lies and at all times combat them with the truth, I pray for you my sisters that you would choose to believe truth. God is for you! No more is that displayed than in the suffering and death of his son. He has bought you with the blood of his precious son. Would you not see that He wants good for you in all things, in your trials and in your suffering. They are not to be feared.  Our lives were not given to us to control them and to try and make them as easy as possible. If we are in Christ, we have been crucified with him, and our lives become His. Let Him work His righteous will in your life. Boldly trust the only one who can be trusted.

“Open hands should characterize the souls attitude toward God- open to receive what He wants to give, open to give back what He wants to take. Acceptance of the will of God means relinquishment of our own. If our hands are full of our own plans, there isn’t room to receive His.“ Elizabeth Elliot

If we allow ourselves, there will always be temptation to fear but this I know, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”(Hebrews 4: 15-16 ) Sister, will you join me in making war on the area of fear and anxiety in our lives. No longer allowing it to control us, “It is peace to leave it all with him, asking only that He do with me anything He wants, anywhere He wants, anytime that God may be glorified.” Elizabeth Elliot