Fear No Fear

“Jesus answered him, “If a man loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words. The word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me” (John 14:23-24, MEV). God loves us enough to give us a choice. He doesn’t force us. That’s the whole point of free will. We CHOOSE to restrict ourselves to what He says is right and good. On purpose. Because we love Him. Anything less would be robotic and slavish. God doesn’t force us. He knocks on the door. He gives us the information. He guides us. He corrects us with words. He lights the path. But WE have to open the door. We have to listen to the information. We have to follow. We have to obey. We have to walk. The decisions for whether to do or not are all ours. He’s taken care of everything else. He has the strategy. He has the solution. He has the blessing. He has salvation. He has everything we need. He is offering it. We have to choose to accept it. To walk it out. To rely on Him. That’s trust. Relying on Him. Believing what He says and relying on Him to bring it about. To give the things. To do the things. To make it happen. We won’t always understand the hows and whens. It might seem impossible to us. It might seem overwhelming to us. But the promise is there. Do we believe Him? He won’t force our hand, but there is a time limit. Sometimes, if you wait too long you miss out. You might want it, you might plan for it, but you might be thinking that it will be in a little more time. You might want to finish this other thing first. Or do that thing there. That isn’t relying on Him. That’s trying to box Him in. That’s trying to decide our circumstances. That’s not what we’re called to do. We’re called to rely on Him and to trust in Him. To put our stuff on a different burner and walk out what He has for us, when He has it, and how He asks us to. That’s where the miracles live. Look at the life of David and the things that happened to him and to Israel. They did some weird things, but when they did miracles happened. When David did it his own way, miracles did not happen. It’s a great lesson. If we want what He is offering, we need to do what He says. Not because He is a tyrant or a control freak. Because He has prepared a whole package and doesn’t want us to miss out on any of it. It is His plan, but our choice.