Do Not Be Afraid

In a song by Jason Gray that's called Fear is Easy, Love is Hard*, one of the lyric lines reads,

"It’s hard to bring your heart to a world that can break it
to offer love to those you’re afraid will forsake it,
but a well defended heart is always looking for a fight."

I think often about how the phrase "Fear not..." is repeated over and over and over again in the Bible. It truly is my natural tendency to allow fear to flood my soul, and in turn, I become defensive. When I am focused on fear, I begin to look into the eyes of other people or even into my own eyes, and in those human reflections I often see that my value wavers. It is scary to offer myself, my heart, my friendship, my time even, to someone who may not take care with me if I choose to be authentic and vulnerable. When I focus on my value in such a variable market, I often feel inadequate or unimportant or guarded over what may be taken from me.

When I focus on my value in such a variable market, I often feel inadequate or unimportant or guarded over what may be taken from me.

But, Jesus has shown me that the only value that matters is the one he places on my life, the one that says that I am invaluable, the one that is permanent and unchanging, and has been attached to me by the God who created me. I am beginning to understand that if I want to see the woman that Jesus sees when he looks at me, I need to gaze at him to find myself reflected in his eyes. It does not matter if I am blind to the perspective of "me" held by another person. It does not matter if I am dismissed by or even invisible to someone whom I wish would acknowledge my presence. It does not matter if someone looks directly at me with eyes of contempt. What does matter is what is seen by my Creator. This is the Person I need to have enough faith to place my trust in. This the Person who promised to love me unconditionally. This is the Person I can give my hope to. This is the Person who can give me triumph over fear.

I am beginning to understand that if I want to see the woman that Jesus sees when he looks at me, I need to gaze at him to find myself reflected in his eyes. 

I think that if I can choose to hope in God instead of in people or in circumstances, he will lead me to fearlessness in the face of whatever the future may bring. I know that if I put my hope in God, and if I try to overcome fear by having faith in his promises, these are truths that affect the condition of my heart. When I am able to hope in God, it gives me an inner peacefulness. Peter wrote about God's desire for whom he created me as a woman when he described the beauty that is found in holiness: 

"You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, 

the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God." 

1 Peter 4:3 NLT

Later in that same chapter, I perceive Peter's writings describe how God gives direction and encouragement to me to choose to open my heart towards people and circumstances which may bring pain. The words Peter wrote reveal to me that if I choose to trust God's leading in this area, there may be many times when I must give up my own desire, my own plan, my own comfort, and especially my own control. However, through submitting to God's authority, I am promised unshakable hope in the goodness of God, courage in the face of any future circumstances, and quiet tranquility of my soul. 

"So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, 

keep on doing what is right, 

and trust your lives to the God who created you, 

for he will never fail you." 

1 Peter 4:19 NLT

God will never fail me. God will never fail me. God will never fail me. 

There is a greatness that belongs only to God. That greatness is recognizable in the rising of the sun each day, the harvest of the fields each season... so much of creation is a metaphor of God's great authority which we should recognize in our hearts and in our lives. If I look away from myself, if I look away from fear, if instead I choose to look to God the Creator with honor and with trust and with a willingness to follow him... then I will experience the security and confidence he wants to bless me with, then he will reveal to me his presence and his goodness. By choosing to give up fear in the face of my loving Savior, I am choosing to bathe my heart in a light that no darkness has the power to overcome. Jason Gray's song ends with the following lyrics, and then fades out to the phrase, "Do not be afraid..."

"Fear will leave you hiding in the dark, 

but love will bring a light into your heart

So do not be afraid, do not be afraid

It comes down to a simple choice: 

shouting devils or a still small voice

One is spreading fear and dread, 

oh but love has always said,

Do not be afraid

Do not be afraid

Do not be afraid

   

 Do not be afraid..."

That is the Voice I want to consistently choose to listen to - the Voice of Love, the Voice of Authority, the Voice of Light, the Voice of Mercy, the Voice of Grace, the Voice that belongs to the One and Only God of the Universe.

Do not be afraid, do not be afraid, do not be afraid...

* Fear is Easy, Love is Hard by Jason Gray from the album A Way to See In The Dark, 2011