When Fear Comes Knocking

Ominous, I know, but don't pass by this, stay a moment to read.

We have all experienced fear at some point in our lives. I'm not referring to the temporary scare of a jump scare in a movie, but rather a feeling that can linger for a long time. It's not something that startles you suddenly; instead, it's more like a lingering shadow that quietly follows you, neither too close nor too far. Its silent presence has a hold on you like nothing else. It's the "what ifs," "if only I," and "I wish I had" thoughts that play in your mind. But what happens when the fear you're facing is actually the moment of truth you didn't realize was hidden within that fear, waiting for you to confront it? Take a moment to reread that sentence. And how can you confront it, you ask? It's simple. The way through fear is trust.

I've been doing some deep soul-searching lately, the kind where you want to set up a hammock in your own brain to evaluate even closer. The shifting, the purging, the digging is so much work but worth it. We put so much pressure on ourselves for multiple reasons, the pressure of expectations that others put on us, or wanting to appear "more than". Society doesn't help all that much either. The expectations, nuances, trends, and things that have no substance suddenly seem to rule and reign over us. Those things have a funny way of making themselves very known to us when we start to dig inside ourselves. Fear is a shapeshifter, it holds no true form, it's the chameleon of the darkness. It sends those little gifts that bring the questioning, the doubting, the things that keep you up at night. That is until you start to let the light in, and then the darkness has nowhere to hide. And the truth rushes in with the bursts of light, revealing what fear was orchestrating to try and knock you down. I love Ephesians 5:6-14, "Don’t be fooled by those who speak their empty words and deceptive teachings telling you otherwise. This is what brings God’s anger upon the rebellious! Don’t listen to them or live like them at all. Once your life was full of sin’s darkness, but now you have the very light of our Lord shining through you because of your union with him. Your mission is to live as children flooded with his revelation-light! And the supernatural fruits of his light will be seen in you—goodness, righteousness, and truth. Then you will learn to choose what is beautiful to our Lord. And don’t even associate with the servants of darkness because they have no fruit in them; instead, reveal truth to them. The very things they do in secret are too vile and filthy to even mention. Whatever the revelation-light exposes, it will also correct, and everything that reveals truth is light to the soul. This is why the Scripture says, “Arise, you sleeper! Rise up from your coffin and the Anointed One will shine his light into you!”

Do you see how we can compare what society deems as worthy, scripture says not to listen to empty words. Or how when we start to choose that path, we deal with living in darkness. And when we allow the Lord to shine light on our situations, darkness is flooded with revelation light and the ugly fruit is revealed. Are we to stay in that darkness, are we supposed to stay in the place of anxious waiting, or fear of the "what if, ands, whys, etc."? No! The Lord has called us to rise from our sleeping and let His light shine onto us. He's called us to trust Him and let Him shine to rid us of the fear that lurks. So that when fear does come knocking, we can answer the door with a burst of light, the light of trusting Jesus. Fear is a liar, my friend. Trust is your companion, grab hold of its hand and watch what you both can accomplish. I leave you with the words of one of my favorite worship songs, "I trust in God, my Savior, the One who will never fail. He will never fail."

Trusting in Jesus is sweet, my friends. Tell fear to go and take a hike!