Do Not Fear

The Lord is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life-of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

     Those little threads of worry and fret we talked about yesterday can turn into real fear. Our imaginations run wild with worst-case scenarios, or we wake up in the middle of the night trembling from a bad dream. The terrors of the night become real terrors of the day when we pick up the newspaper or watch the news of the day. I shared with you our oldest daughter’s favorite verse a couple of weeks ago. Here is our younger daughter, Lauren’s favorite verse:

Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord Himself, is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation. Isaiah 12:2

     Our God is a mighty God. He is able to take away our worry, our doubt, our dismay and our fear. He hears our cry and saves us. He will pull us up out of the darkness around us. He is our light. Did you know there is something or should I say Someone we are to fear?

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have good understanding. To Him belongs eternal praise.  Psalm 111:10

Priase the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in His commands.  Psalm 112:1

He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.  Psalm 145:19

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.  Proverbs 9:10

     This fear of the Lord is a trembling awe and reverence for who He is. Let His love and care cast away every other fear as we kneel before His Almighty power. The wisdom of His commands drives out the fears we face each day. His love is perfect. Let this next verse ease your cares right now.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  1 John 4:18

Dear Jesus,

We cast our fears on You today, knowing You are more powerful than all of them. Your perfect love drives the fear away. Let the fear of the Lord bring us to our knees in awe and reverence as we look for Your wisdom.

Amen