“Don‘t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” 
                                                                   -Philippians 4:6-7 (Message)


fear.

i remember when i was in gradeschool, my friends and i came across a novel called “fearless” that was about a girl who wasn’t born without a fear gene, i really didn’t give it much thought simply because except for lizards, i wasn’t such a fearful little girl. my mom who is probably the strongest person i know always taught me to be strong.

however, as you get older, the fears increase although a bit harder to deal with since sharing them out loud would be too embarrassing and was simply not acceptable, so we try to diminish our fears during the day but almost scream to make them stop from swallowing us up at night when we’re alone in our room.

fear of rejection. fear of sickness that will never come because Jesus called you healed. fear of losing the people you love. fear of being left behind, fear of growing up alone and the list goes on.

these are the fears that we try to keep at bay but torture us at night.

fear is not pretty because it fuels the brain into thinking about random situations and if given much thought our fears consume us and make us think that that is our reality when in fact, it has nothing to do with our reality at all.

whenever we feel fear, it’s okay to face it instead of constantly run away because in reality the only way we can confront our fears is by dissecting it and ripping it apart the way we did the boogeyman when we were seven.

truth is the Bible says, “do not fear”, “do not be anxious”, “do not worry”. basically, the one thing that should stick to us the most is this “Don’t be afraid of anything, God’s got it”

but somehow, this just doesn’t make the cut when we’re alone with the shadows in our room, worrying like there was no tomorrow, somehow, the still sound voice of Jesus feels so distant, probably the way Peter felt just before he walked on water. the waves are louder, the coldness thicker than the loving embrace of Jesus who promises to save us no matter what was underneath the dark, murky waters.

however, we can just scare ourselves silly for so long, believe me, i went on a fear factor binge for almost three weeks, making up situations that are so impossible but have become so believable simply because we have created the scenarios in our head.

at the end of the day, 90% of our fears do not come true, or if they do not to the extent that you tortured yourself for.

truth is, in the same way we create fearful situations in our heads, we can also create beautiful situations that would be more beneficial to us. there is a reason why Jesus have said countless times to trust Him and to simply let it go and not worry.

God is for you therefore, nothing in your life will ever harm, hello, you trusted God for your eternity so why let something as simple as rejection consume you?

Trust God with all your worries and your fears, whenever a threatening thought comes to you, speak life to that specific situation and believe in the power that is yours just because of what Jesus did, stop living this mediocre life and instead live a life of authority- a life that is rightfully yours.

The verse in Philippians is a constant reminder that whatever fear I have in my life, whatever worry, I can stand against it because Jesus promised that we can overcome all things through His strength and He is the God of miracles and He is in the business of making dreams come true everyday so with a God like this while allow yourself to swim in a pool of senseless worries?

Simply give it to Jesus, He knows how to turn our greatest fears into something beautiful. He could turn our mourning into dancing and our tears into joy.

Stop living a life of meaningless torture and allow yourself to breathe.

God’s got it.

declare God’s goodness and your fears would disappear, besides with such a great God on our side, who should we fear?