Dealing with Fears, Leading with Courage

UV 4232/10000 Dealing with Fears, Leading with Courage I sought the Lord ( on the authority of His word), and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34 v 4 The Bible contains the words “Do not fear..” 365 times, it is said. This indicates that each human is assailed by one fear or other every single day and the Lord gives us the antidote to fear in His word. We are chosen of God in order that we choose Him. Once we choose Him, the real juice flows in our veins- courage, hope, joy, faith, love, peace. Neither any pain nor gain we suffer will be in vain as we seek the Lord and follow Him. He is our Ultimate Leader and He promises to deliver us from all our fears. The emphasis is on the word, ALL our fears. Faith in God counters all the fears. Only Jesus enables us to overcome the ultimate fear- the fear of death for He endured death and overcame it victoriously. It is said that no one comes out of this life alive but through our faith in Jesus, we can indeed come alive or be resurrected like Him. The other major fears like fear of disease, fear of defeat, fear of shame, fear of loss, fear of mishaps, fear of being in lack of money or something else also affects most of humanity. But as we seek the Lord, He answers us specifically and delivers us from each type and form of fear. The covid pandemic brought in its wake all kinds of fears- fear of death, fear of disease, fear of loss, fear of unemployment, fear of travelling, fear of any physical contact with others and so on. It is faith that enables us to thrive, to be joyful even in the middle of such a global outbreak of fear and panic cutting across nations. Fear paralyses people and reduces the scope of actions and decisions we can take. Christ promises us complete freedom from fear. He said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” The truth He spoke of is Himself, the word of God. We need to seek Him in His word daily in order to be set free from the fears that assail us each day of our lives. The fears are replaced by faith, by strength, by grace, by resilience, by hope and joy. This is the abundant and eternal life the Lord called us into.