Day Nine: Fear Not....

For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. ~Isaiah 41:13 
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.. ~2 Timothy 1:7



Fear... such an ugly word that we all know. Just the mention of it's name, brings it's horrible thoughts, that tangle our heart and leave us breathless.
I have a silly fear over spiders. In my opinion they are hideous and creepy. After all they have eight legs and creepy eyes that follow your every move. In reality I am an almost six foot tall human, where they are the size of a dot to a silver dollar( those are the ones I hate the most) I admit it spiders have made me hyperventilate, scream as if my head is on fire, and curse some words I normally wouldn't say, such as, Oh crap.
Now my fear of spiders isn't a harmful fear, nor one that will turn into something worse.
Okay, please know I am not a Star Wars fan, but I do remember a quote in one of the movies, that I thought was a really good one “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
When trouble comes, fear follows right behind and this kind of fear can lead to anger which could turn to hate.
These kind of harmful fears can be from financial stresses, work stress, or the worst, family stress. Times are so hard right now. Our economy isn't getting better, our country is changing, job lost is at it's lowest and there are more families torn apart than there are whole ones. Fear seems to be sitting at our doorstep, ready to enter.

One of my all time favorite verses that first inspired me to write my book, The Realm of Hearts, is...
There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete perfection]. ~1 John 4:18

Love, what a powerful thing it is. Love can conquer anything, no matter how big it may seem. Love can only be found from God, after all he is the creator of it. When fear comes creeping up at you, snuff it out by praying. Crush it by singing praises to the king of kings. Destroy it by daily talking to your Heavenly Father, and putting your fears at his feet.



Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)

Don't let  fear win over you today... you have been given the power to overcome it.  Lift your fears to the one called Love. The peace maker of our hearts. The one that has overcome the greatest fear of all.