Fear is a tricky thing. It sneaks in and causes us to begin to doubt, worry, and become uncertain about our future. The “what if’s” grow so great and before we know it, our eyes are down, our stomachs are achy and our hearts are racing. We worry that the worst will come true and reckon that God will never come through because our circumstances seem too great. We have all been there – that helpless feeling of heaviness. It will never change .. get better … be easy for me … 

Last weekend in church we sang the words “Fear is losing ground to our hope in You…” and it reminded me that the ONLY way we can beat fear is by turning our eyes off our circumstances and placing them on God. We know He did not give us a spirit of fear!!! (2 Timothy 1:7) That means that all those worries, doubts and fears aren’t coming from Him but are coming from the devil with hopes to snatch our peace, our hope, and our trust. We HAVE to place our eyes on God. We have to dig into the Bible, fill our ears with worship music, and scribble down verses and characteristics of our Father because otherwise, our hope will lose ground to fear. And it HAS to be the other way around. Because hope isn’t an emotion – it’s a given promise to God’s children. We can trust Him to pull through in His timing. We don’t have to live life afraid of the outcomes of our circumstances because we can trust that He wants the best for us.

What fears are holding your heart captive today? Is it a fear that you’ll never get the chance to be a mother? Or perhaps, that you’ll never get ahead of your financial struggles, or your health will never be what you want it to be? Maybe you worry that you will never truly be happy or filled with joy, or be able to form the type of relationship with Jesus that others talk about. Perhaps it’s your marriage – will it ever feel like you hit the sweet spot? Or will you ever recover from your divorce emotionally? Will your child/children be able to process life with only 1 parent in the picture?

Friends, I’m right there with you. Sometimes I lay in bed at night worrying about whether I can make it to full-term with these babies, or wondering if we will be able to parents these twins and raise them as Christ-followers. I worry I will not be able to handle a lack of sleep, or if I will be able to transition well from my lifestyle of independence and be able to ask for help easier. Will one of our children have a learning disability? A physical handicap that will make their life more challenging? Will they be stubborn and rebel against us? Will I be able to handle with kindness all of the ADVICE everyone seems to want to share? The list goes on and on. And the fear sets in. The worries we often wonder about are legit, possible fears (and sometimes they aren’t), but the truth is, there’s enough for us all to worry about all night.

Let’s be intentional not to let fear take root in ours hearts. We have to intentionally turn it over to the One who never wanted our minds filled with these worries to begin with. Trust Him to refill our hope and allow fear to lose ground because us+ Jesus together are stronger than any worry we may face. 

(This post from a few years ago reminded me how easy it is to just pray about our fears.)