Fear Not

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” - Philippians 4:6-8

I am a worry-wart. Someone’s car was broken into just down the street, I just know mine is next. The neighbor's dog ran away, better lock mine up and never let them out of my sight! Within that comes a need for control - including when exactly my dogs go to the bathroom and making sure all the windows are locked if my husband isn’t home, which are things that I can control. However, this becomes a problem when there are things in my life that I desire to have control over, but it’s not my place to control them.

Something I am working through is recognizing that I have this beautiful opportunity to experience a reliance on God’s faithfulness and peace in everything, including the everyday mundane tasks. I am reminded in Matthew 6:34, “...do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” I can’t control what happens in the future, only God knows what is to come, and how incredible it is to release that burden to Him! 

But moving past control and returning to the root of my problem: worry! I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “Fear not is written 365 times in the Bible!” Well, with a little research, I discovered that it’s not QUITE that many, but the point still stands - we should not be afraid or worry and can apply that to our lives daily without it being written 365 times. Within the Psalms, David is consistently worshiping God for delivering him from his fears and worries. Perhaps one of the most popular Psalms, Psalm 23:4, states, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” God is with us, regardless of the evil we face. His rod and His staff are there to direct our actions, His rod to discipline, and His staff to shepherd. Beyond that, we have the Holy Spirit, who will guide, teach, comfort, love, and provide us with instruction on how to live a worry-free and God honoring Christian life! 

Truthfully, I could go on and on about how simply leaning into the Spirit and allowing God’s overwhelming peace to surround us would help ease worry and teach us to be dependent on God, but I’ll let the many other scriptures that address this speak for themselves!