It’s said that the Bible states, “Do not be afraid,” 365 times - one for each day of the year. Although we will walk through daily bouts of fear, great or small, we shouldn’t be afraid.
Last year, I graduated with a degree in Elementary Education. In every class, I was taught that teachers shouldn’t give rules using negative language. Instead of telling a student only what not to do, we tell them the expected behavior and what they should do. For example, instead of saying, “Don’t run,” to a student, you should say, “Walk please.” In the same way, “No talking,” would be, “Quiet voice please.” This takes away the chance for the student to incorrectly guess what you want them to do when you could just as easily tell them directly.
In Scripture, we tend to see a lot of negative language. I think as imperfect people it’s easy for us to only focus on the things we “shouldn’t do” rather than what we are called to do as followers of Christ. For a long time when I would come across scripture that would say, “Do not fear,” or something to that extent, I would have blinders on. My focus would go to how much fear I had and how I didn’t meet that expectation. I thought that I just needed to stop being fearful. Simple, right?
As I continued to grow in my faith, I found myself realizing there was fear in a lot of different areas of my life and I became so overwhelmed. I wondered how this Truth could cause me so much anxiety when it was supposed to bring peace. After having those blinders on for such a long time, I finally realized what I was doing: I was focusing on the fear and not God.
As I wrestled with this, I tried looking at it from another angle: “What’s the opposite of fear?” A common gut reaction to that question is “courage.” As someone who hesitates in every possible way when approaching life and someone who thinks through every single factor before they make a decision, I don’t often feel very courageous. This made is incredibly difficult to feel like I could fulfill this command. It was hard for me to read verses like, “Be strong and courageous…” (Joshua 1:9) because I felt like I would never be able to live up to that expectation.
But when I continued to read Joshua 1:9, I found that it says: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” When we focus on just the command, “Be strong and courageous,” we put the emphasis on us, as if we were perfect people, thinking that we will accomplish these things. Here’s a reminder: we aren’t perfect. We are all sinful and in need of a grace-filled Savior. When we continue to read and focus our attention on, “for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go,” a lot of the pressure is taken off of us. It’s not by our merit or ability to be brave; it’s by God’s ability to lead us to those points and it’s through the Holy Spirit, who brings us the peace to face adversity.
Psalm 27:1 says, “The LORD is might light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” When we place the Lord first, what is there to fear? Who is there to fear? When God is central in our lives, all other things seem to lose their value and fall away. When this happens, we are finally able to fix our eyes on the most important thing and move forth in confidence toward whatever caused us hesitation.
One of my most consistent prayers for myself and my friends comes a couple verses later in Psalm 27; verse 4 says, “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may
dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.” Friends, I pray that of all the things you do today and every day, you would seek the Lord above all things and that everything else follows suit. When we lose our focus, we tend to fix our eyes on things that don’t deserve a seat at our table like fear.
Erin is a recent graduate from Florida State University whose love for essential oils and teaching kiddos grows stronger every day. She's a 6w5 on the enneagram and a big fan of specialty donuts. Her ideal "self-care" day would be spending a whole day nose deep in a book that has her captivated. Her all time favorite book is "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee - she'll most likely name her future dog Scout. Like any typical twenty-something, Erin is hooked on coffee and loves hanging out one-on-one with people over a cup of joe.