Love over Fear

Perfect love casts out fear. (1 John 4:18)

God is Love and He’s perfect so the closer we get to Him and the more of Him there is in us, the more fear will be replaced with love. I’m learning this here at G42. It’s a journey, definitely a slow process, but it’s so empowering, hopeful, and peace-giving. I’m learning how to more quickly and fully surrender my fears to Jesus and hand them over to Him. Sometimes, that looks like reciting, “I trust you. I trust you. I trust you” to God over and over in efforts to activate my faith and deepen my trust in Him when I’m not feeling it and not fully trusting Him. But, I’m finding it is so freeing to voice out my fears to Him (verbally: in my journal, in prayer, sharing with a friend) and by doing so, I’m bringing them into the light and they lose power just by that initial act alone. (John 1:5) The Enemy loves for us to mull over our  fears and focus on them instead of confessing them and giving them over to the Lord and choosing to trust Him. We must choose to meditate on the Truth of God’s faithfulness, victory over all things, and His love to handle any fears we have. He is bigger than any fear we encounter. He’s already defeated sin, death, and the devil so really, what do we have to fear? As David says, “The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)

But, practically speaking, it’s hard to live free from fear. Definitely possible. But hard. I think we get used to letting our fears control us and paralyze us and we think it’s normal. But, it’s not! We aren’t supposed to live in fear. We tell fear where to go! We have freedom in Christ! We speak out our fears, receive God’s love, listen for His Truth in the situation and meditate on the Truth in His word, get vulnerable and share with trusted friend(s), and choose to trust God even if we don’t feel it or understand it. It’s a daily choice. Will we let our fears and worries dominate us or will we live in the freedom and peace Christ has given us?

For me, currently, I’m wrestling with fear over my upcoming practicum. Am I really equipped to lead these students by myself? How will it be going the whole 3 months without a friend from G42? Am I qualified to do medicine in the rural bush of Africa? Will I get lonely? Am I prepared for the living conditions?

I’m choosing to voice these fears to the Lord and to close friends. And to declare my trust in Him even when I don’t feel it. To activate my faith in Him and pray to Him and let my mind tell my heart that it’s really okay. In fact, it’s more than okay. He goes before me and prepares the way and He has equipped me and will be with me every step of the way. It WILL be a sweet season full of growth, increased dependence on Him, laughter, bonding, and pushing myself out of my comfort zone and seeing what I am capable of. I am still nervous but His peace is covering me and I know that I know that He is trustworthy and has good things in store for me. And, my fear is being replaced by His abundant love for me and purpose for my life.

Another fear the Lord is asking me to confront is my fear of never having a husband. I tend to stuff this one waaaayyyy down and convince myself that I’m fine and that I don’t care if I ever get married. But, of course, I know that I do care. And I sit in the belief that the Lord is holding out on me and if He really loved me, I would already have a husband or at least some prospects. I know this is false and a ploy of the Enemy to get me to doubt God’s love for me. But, my heart has a hard time catching up to the truth my mind grasps. So, the Lord has been prompting me to surrender this fear to Him, trust Him to make good on His promise to provide me a husband (He’s told me this and confirmed it multiple times), start praying for my future husband, and even start thanking Him for my man as in His timeline, it’s already done. I’m challenging myself to start journaling to my husband and verbally declare my trust in the Lord to bring this man at the right time even if I don’t believe that at the moment. I know that any area we withhold our trust from the Lord, the Enemy can attack us, and it hinders our intimacy with the Lord. So, I’m realizing that as painful as it is to address this area in particular (cuz ya girl is stiiiillll very single), the Lord wants to heal this part of my heart and draw me closer to Him in the process. Because every relationship is built on trust and it’s the same with Jesus.

So, in this process of becoming, I’m trying to periodically address my fears and give them to the Lord. His love is slowly working its way through the chambers of my heart and bringing freedom and healing as I step out in faith. I know He holds my future and has the absolute best for me and I’m growing in my trust in Him.

What fears are you harboring? Have you given them to the Lord? If not, what’s stopping you? Have you considered sharing with a close friend? Do you need to recite your trust in Him daily so that you actually start to trust Him more?

I challenge you to examine yourself and surrender any fears to the Lord and accept the love, freedom, and peace He gives you in exchange. It will make all the difference!

Love y’all!!