"Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway."
—John Wayne
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
—2 Timothy 1:7
One of the most repeated refrains throughout the Bible is to “Do not be afraid”. Over and over this refrain reverberates through the Old and New
Testament. God does not want us to be timid and cower at the threat of evil. Because sin exists so does negativity in all its forms. We have regret for the past and dread of the future and these are very common iterations of fear. Yet we are told not to fear. When we are afraid we place our spiritual power either into regret, panic, or dread. These are the stages of fear: regret and fear expressed for the previous, panic is fear for the present moment, and dread is
fear for the future. We must live our lives in the present moment! When we donlive in the present we set ourselves up to be the strongest and most loving we can be. Fear will be present in some situations. But when we decide that we see the fear and we consider it happening against the truth of the Bible we can use it for what it exists for to help us focus on the task at hand and trust God
for what was, what is, and what will be. We will at times feel fear but when we remember that victory is already ours what we face now can be framed with the truth that we are “more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans
8:37). Jesus has “overcome the world” (John 16:33) and therefore so have we. We are victorious already and we grasp that victory from step to step and moment to moment gradually living into our victory and power. We have won and this
present moment, or past time, or impending actions serve to remind us that we are already winners and are leaning into that victory each time we trust God a little more. Keep going in spite of the fear you face. Even if we feel afraid while undergoing this present moment we can recall that we have already won and we can boldly remind others that they too are already victorious in Jesus Christ. Keep on keepin’ on.
