“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
A friend of mine quotes this verse in most spiritual conversations that she and I have, and I never quite appreciated it until recently.
I’ve been very afraid, uncomfortable, sad, hopeless and upset lately. A big change has happened in my life which makes me very worried about the future. In my mind, I know that God uses everything that happens for His glory, but when will I see that played out? When will things start to make sense? I ask myself all these questions, and I get stuck in it. Every time a question pops in my head, I spiral out of control. One question leads to another, which leads to another and so on. How healthy is this?
It’s not. I’m living in a state of constant worry. How will I cope without the life I had been living before this change? How is the other person involved, that I no longer speak to, doing? Will my life ever be the same? Is God still faithful?
I might not ask myself that last one outright, but all my thoughts sure do point to the doubt I have in Him. Although I know God is sovereign, the worries plague me.
I’ve been introduced to a song recently called, pretty ironically, “The Breakup Song,” by Francesca Battistelli, and it has made a big difference in my life and outlook. The chorus goes,
“Fear, you don’t own me
There ain’t no room in this story
And I ain’t got time for you
Telling me what I’m not
Like you know me well guess what?
I know who I am
I know I’m strong
And I am free
Got my own identity
So fear, you will never be welcome here.”
How true is that? Our God is so big that fear should have no place in our lives. Fear of the future. Fear of moving on from the past. Fear of anything to come. God does not give us a spirit of fear. He gives us His power to overcome anything that we are worrying about. Fear is not from God, therefore not good or productive.
I know who I am in Christ. I am strong, worthy and perfectly made in His sight. That is what gets me through. Not anything I can do on my own, but my identity in Christ.
Fear cannot hold us any longer.
One Day...One Verse 