Do not yield to fear, for I am always near. Never turn your gaze from me, for I am your faithful God. I will infuse you with my strength and help you in every situation.

I will hold you firmly with my victorious right hand.

Isaiah 41:10 (TPT)

For many of us, fear has screamed so loudly in our thoughts for so long that we struggle to hear anything else. We become so consumed by negativity, by the ugliness of our circumstances, and by our ever-growing doubts that those fears become as close as friends and as constant as breath. Sometimes, we even find comfort in them, in their constant presence, and rather than seeking all that is good, we hold our fears close and push away everything else. 

Occasionally, believers who have never struggled with anxiety will suggest that our faith is weak. They try to use shame to push us toward a stronger, deeper faith—but shame is not from God, and shame never wins. In the middle of a pandemic, with threats to our health and our jobs and the robust economy to which we have become so dependent, it is remarkably easy to let the blaring voice of fear have the final say. But rather than trying to rid ourselves of our fears, we simply need to ask Jesus to help carry them and to speak truth louder than all that other nonsense. When we invite Jesus in to hush all the screaming and negativity and lies, He won’t necessarily take them away, but His presence will bring calm even when our fears swirl. What if we chose to let Jesus, rather than our fears, guide what we believe, what we feel, and what we allow to shape our hearts?

Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is experiencing fear but linking arms with Jesus and walking right through anyway. Not because you are strong enough or able to silence your fear, but because Jesus is strong enough and only His truth can dull the intensity of your worries and fears. Fear will never ground you; it will only bury you. Only the hope and love of Jesus can ground you and give you a firm foundation on which to stand. The next time your fears take your thoughts and your sanity hostage, feed them. Not with the lies or doubts or what-ifs that make them grow, but with the promises of Jesus that make them shrink. Fear is not and never has been your friend. Because fear lies, fear distorts, and fear imprisons, and no one needs friends like that! Only the love of Jesus speaks truth that brings clarity and freedom. Seek that, and push away everything else! You are loved!