Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

When you lie down, you will not be afraid. Yes, you will lie down, and your sleep will be sweet.
Proverbs 3:24 (emphasis added)

I don’t know about you, but the ‘sleep like a baby’ saying is something I struggle with. I’ve had kids. Have you ever slept near a baby? They toss. They turn. They get up every hour to hour and a half squalling about one thing or another. They fuss. They kick. They poop and need to be disturbed. They are the most difficult sleepers EVER. I would hate to sleep like a baby in THAT sense because I would never feel rested.

But babies can sleep ANYWHERE. While you’re holding them, while they’re eating, while you’re changing them, while you’re bathing them (depending on the method), in the car, in their strollers, on the floor, on a lap, upside down halfway off the pillow you put beside them to keep them safe while you reached over to take a gulp of coffee because you need the caffeine to stay awake because the baby slept beside you and kept you up all night. They just pop off. Sure, they don’t sleep long as a rule, but they just go out. Why is that? Because they feel safe. As mad as they can get, as fussy as they can get, as purple crying as they can get, they feel safe. Sound. Secure. You have them. They don’t fear. Ever.

Wouldn’t that be nice? In today’s world the number of hours we seem to be able to dedicate to sleep gets smaller and smaller. Work, traffic, kids, school commitments, banking, social commitments (online or off), study time, cleaning/cooking/household maintenance time, etc etc. It seems to grow like nothing else does. If my garden grew like my time fillers, I’d never have to shop (which is another source of time fill that I can’t believe I forgot just now). In our modern world of gadgets and convenience we are busier than ever. And three times as stressed because with television and the Internet the world is in our home. We get to be worried about things taking place across the globe because with inter-connectivity, everything affects everything else. And if it doesn’t, we have news jockeys that are paid just to make you feel unsafe so that you’ll never change the channel.

It is the playground of anxiety and depression. Worry has been birthed like never before in human history. We worry over big things. Half the time we seem to worry more over small things. And woe betide whomever gets in between us and our coping device. How bad is that? That we need coping devices. Rather, that we’ve trained ourselves to need them. How have we gotten to the point that we can’t seem to function without self-care crutches to hold us up? Why is it that just being in the world has become crippling? It is because fear is the biggest force on this planet. It gets into every crack and cranny. It looks to seep into every place of your mental landscape and behind it is every spirit of the kingdom of darkness just waiting for fear to crack the door open. There will never be a spirit operating in your life that didn’t get there without fear opening the door. Fear is the polar opposite of faith. It seeps into every place faith is not.

Faith is the air of the Kingdom of God. Everything happens by faith. Everything. If you aren’t persuaded then you won’t step. If you aren’t sure that your feet are going to land on solid ground, you won’t move. You’ll stand right where you are until you die. That’s a fact. We need faith to function. God made it that way because all of us are to be looking to Him in all things. “For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”” (Romans 1:16-17 and Habakkuk 2:4). No matter what God has for us — from salvation to healing to a new job to a different path home to a reason to get out of bed in the morning — we need faith to get it. God opens His arms and extends everything to us. Everything. The whole of His Kingdom. We need to take it. That’s the job of faith. To take it from God’s hand and walk in it. “Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you confessed the good confession in the sight of many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:12). Take hold. Take. He’s offering, we take.

“for we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). “Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). “My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for they will add to you length of days, years of life, and peace” (Proverbs 3:1-2). “Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Fear Yahweh, and depart from evil. It will be health to your body, and nourishment to your bones” (Proverbs 3:5-8). See a pattern yet? Faith is the lifeblood of the Kingdom of God. Knowing that God gives and we can take. That God shines a light on our path, and we can walk. That the ground is solid, and we will not step into empty air. It comes down to knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has us.

Who has you? That is the primary question for you and me and everyone. Who has you? The person who has you will determine your feeling of safety. If the world has you, fear opens the door so anxiety, depression, stress, and trouble are your bedfellows. If Jesus has you, peace, love, healing, and joy are your companions. If you know God has you, if you have faith, if you are persuaded, then how can you fear? How can fear get a hold of you?

Who has you? Wouldn’t it be nice to at any moment, at any time of day, anywhere, just lean back into the chest of the Lord as you sit on His lap? To breathe in His scent, close your eyes, and rest? To be safe and secure in His sweetness? It is possible. It is more than possible. We are His children (Acts 26:18; Romans 8:17). We’re allowed and encouraged to remember and act like it. He is holding it out to you. Open hand. No take backsies. No tricks. Honest and open. If you want it, you can take it. Take it. Let your sleep – and your life – be sweet.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Ephesians 5

We are to be like God, to imitate Him and make ourselves like Him in our behaviour just as we expect our own children to emulate us. To live in love as Jesus loved us and gave Himself up for us. That’s a tall order, but He gives us the tools to do it. From watching our words to having husbands love their wives as Christ loves the church (if that isn’t a hefty responsibility, I don’t know what is since He doesn’t judge, is always kind, patient, courteous, sharing, caring, supportive, and the list goes on). We’re to praise God in all things (not for the circumstances, but IN the circumstances. Not for the stress, DURING the stress) with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Why? Because the more we love on God the more His love lives for us. Inside us. Wiping away the junk of the world and leaving His righteousness shining forth. It rescues us from everything.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.