The Feeling of Fear
“Where God’s love is, there is no fear, because God’s perfect love drives out fear. It is punishment that makes a person fear, so love is not made perfect in the person who fears.” – 1 John 4:18
Living life is scary, especially when there are stories in the news about earthquakes, murders, bridge collapses, and of the exploiting of children. Did you know that humans never had to live in fear in the beginning after God created the earth and everything on it? Adam and Eve used to live in a peaceful environment before they disobeyed God. They had no worries, only to look after the Garden (Genesis 2:15). After the fall, everything changed (Genesis 3:6-7). People became evil and did things that God viewed as unholy. The unholy things people did led to the downfall of humanity. The first murder happened in Genesis 4:8 when Cain killed his brother Abel. After that people continued to do sinful and evil things (Genesis 6:5-7).
See how God described the world in Genesis 6:5-7:
The Lord saw that the human beings on the earth were very wicked and that everything they thought about was evil. He was sorry he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So, the Lord said, “I will destroy all human beings that I made on the earth. And I will destroy every animal and everything that crawls on the earth and the birds of the air, because I am sorry, I have made them.”
God flooded the earth because the world was so evil and corrupt (Genesis 6:11). We have a good reason to be fearful since what happens in the world can impact us. When unexpected things happen, the fear that is produced by it has the power to paralyze people from living life and doing what they want to do. However, when God is the center of our lives, He is the one who helps us to overcome the fear. His perfect love provides us with peace and courage. We get confidence from Him by knowing no matter what happens and since God works out everything "good" for His people who love Him (Romans 8:28), His people will receive peace and courage from Him that will drive out the fear that used to paralyze them.
Prayer for today:
Dear heavenly Father,
Your perfect love drives out fear in us. It gives us the courage to do the impossible. In this world, there is a lot of evil but, You are bigger than it. Please help those who struggle with fear to find peace, comfort and courage in You. You’re their only hope. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
