Driving out Fear

Seething with self-righteous rage, Saul had made it his personal mission to destroy Christ's brand-new Church while she was still in her cradle.

God, however, had a different, more glorious plan. Before He ascended, Jesus told Peter that He would build His church, and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Nothing and no one could stop God's church from flourishing…Not even a Christian-hating ravager.

After Saul’s miraculous conversion, God chose a man named Ananias to help Saul regain his sight and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. But Saul’s reputation had preceded him.

“Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to Your saints at Jerusalem” (Acts 9:13).

Ananias had received a command from God, but he was afraid, and deservedly so. After all, he was being asked to go to the man responsible for imprisoning and killing countless followers of Christ.

Although tempted to disobey, Ananias trusted God instead of his fears. He went to Saul, laid his hands on him, and almost at once, Saul began his life-long ministry of proclaiming the good news of the gospel.

Thousands of years later, God is still asking His people to do things that are genuinely scary, risky, and even dangerous for the sake of His Kingdom:

-Walking with a loved one who is deep in unrepentant sin

-Accepting a new job that is lower in pay but has better interaction with the community

-Going on a mission trip to a closed country

-Sharing the gospel to a neighbor or coworker who is hostile towards God

All of these (and many more) are reasons to be afraid. But God still asks us to do them.

So, how do we do it? How is it possible to step out in faith and walk the hard, scary paths that God asks us to take?  Should we pick ourselves up by our boot straps and just muster up the courage? Or do we take the more popular route to “Fake-It-Till-You-Make-It?”

The answer is good news: It is love.

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." 1 John 4:18

Perfect love casts out fear. In other words, the perfect, lavish, faithful love of God bought for us with the blood of Christ takes away our need to be afraid. No longer do we need to fear His wrath because the Spotless Lamb took it for us. And as a response, we are now freed to love others instead of being afraid of them.

Because God smiles on us, the opinions of others start to fade. Because our eternal destiny is secure, we can confidently say with the psalmist, “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

As a result of Ananias' faith and Saul’s witness, the church now "walked in the fear of the Lord" instead of in fear of Saul (Acts 9:31). They traded their paralyzing fear of man and exchanged it for a life-giving fear that stands in awe of who God is and what He has done.

What fears are holding you back from doing what God has asked you to do? Who do you need to love instead of fear?

While God may sometimes ask us to do things that are difficult and scary, we know He will never ask us to do anything that isn't for His glory and our good. And He promised that He will walk with us every step of the way.

And who knows? Saying "no" to our fears and "yes" to God could result in bringing many sons to glory.

-Becky Groppel