Nothing to fear, but fear itself

Fear is the most powerful human emotion. It has driven people to bow before ruthless tyrants, forsake their loved ones and abandon their most sacred principles.

God knows we as humans are prone to fear, which is why He commands, “Do not fear,” literally hundreds of times in the Bible. The message never seems to get across.

I’m the kind of person who likes control. Growing up, I didn’t like the idea of relying on God to take care of my future.

I had no control over His plans for my life, and that frightened me. So I made my own. In high school I had a perfectly drawn road map that I could follow for the next ten years: I would join the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University, start dating my future wife by at least my sophomore year, be commissioned as an officer in the military, and then ride off into a picture-perfect horizon.

I didn’t fear the future, because I knew I was in control. God probably laughed.

Asthma took away any possibility of military service, I left A&M after a week, and to date I’m still single (no pun intended).

All the plans I had made, all the control I thought I had over life, vanished completely. I stood staring into a dark, terrifying chasm I knew nothing about called the future, and I was afraid.

In some respects, I’m still afraid.

Life often feels like riding in a car God is about to drive over a cliff. He says the car can fly, and He’s never been wrong before, but that doesn’t make it any less scary.

It seems ridiculous to be frightened when God said in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” but it’s not without precedent.

After all, Moses was initially more afraid of Pharoah than the flaming bush that emanated the audible words of the Lord Himself. Take your pick on that one.

Moses had plans for his life, but God had different ones. Moses was sure he would die at the hands of Pharoah, but God knew he wouldn’t.

Moses was faced with a future he could not see, following a God he could not control, with nothing to lean on but His promises.

No doubt he was afraid. Yet when he trusted in God and stepped out on faith, God delivered him in a mighty way.
People often find it scary when God takes away everything they trust in.

They try running to different things to save them from their fears, and when nothing can, they throw up their hands and exclaim in frustration, “I have nothing to rely on but You now!” Then again, that was probably His plan all along.