A couple of days ago, Michael Perkins published a beautiful post at his blog, The Handwritten, that talked about fear. In just a few words he expressed how fear trick us into doubting the amazing plan that God has for us.

The interesting fact is that it is not the first time I get a message about letting go of my fears in a short period of time. You know when you hear or read something, and it seems like a little bulb has been turned on inside your heart, and you know that God is talking to you? Yes, this is what I am talking about.

Just to list a few messages I got: there was a chapter in the book “Untitled” by Blaine Hogan that talked about it; the preface of the book “48 days to the work you love” by Dan Miller that I started reading a few days ago also talked about it; a sermon that one of the elders of my church preached a few weeks ago focused on the verse 36 of Mark chapter 5; and even this picture in Pinterest that I stumbled upon a few days ago! Yep, God is talking to me indeed.

So I decided to check the Scriptures and dig a little deeper into the subject of “fear”. Let’s take a look at a few examples when God tells someone to not be afraid (or “fear not”, in the classic translations):

“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” (Genesis 15:1)

“Do not be afraid of them; the LORD your God himself will fight for you.” (Deuteronomy 3:22)

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

“This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.'” (2 Chronicles 20:15)

And there are many more examples like that. Jesus Himself said something similar to His disciples right before He was captured:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)

Have you noticed that every time that God says that the person should not be afraid He justifies it with a promise? And if you read the chapters after each verse, you will see that He always fulfills His promise, and in fact that person or people didn’t have to fear anything.

What God is saying is that He is the reason we should not be afraid of anything. No matter what happens, He is in control.

I am sharing this with you because I think I am not alone in this. I think that a lot of people would identify with what I am saying. Sometimes we let our fears and insecurities take the best of us. So now I also want to share with you what God is telling me: do not be afraid!

I don’t know what God has prepared for me, I honestly don’t. But what I know is that He is insisting in telling me to not be afraid and trust Him. I don’t have to trust what I know or what I can do. I just have to rest in Him and be confident in His promises.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)