Lloyd John Oglivie says in his book called, Facing the Future Without Fear,

“Fear originates not from without but from within.” [1]

I’m home alone. It’s dark outside. My husband is not due back for hours.

Our home is surrounded by state forest and we have only one neighbor. I hear loud voices in the woods—at least two men hollering to one another.

The dogs next door are barking like crazy, and I hear the wiggle of the doorknob.

The door is locked; my heart is racing; my mouth is dry.

I’m afraid.

I step silently into the darkened bedroom, standing stock still, not breathing and open the window a crack so I could hear outside.

In the distance I heard a man yell, “I’m going toward the house with the dogs.”

A flashlight flickers and I hear crashing through the brush as he attempts to find his way out of the forest. I hear him stumble out onto to the road in front of my house….

I hear the clacking of his bow and arrows.

It turns out it’s just a bow hunter trying to find his way out of the woods long after darkness descended. He’s probably more scared than I am and that’s saying something.

My fear rose faster than the temperature in July. And, the ‘someone’ wiggling the doorknob, was imagined; it came from the past event when our house was broken into.

Fear comes upon us in a matter seconds and produces an involuntary response. A sound, a word, anything can produce a reaction: spiking the heart rate, sucking the air out of our lungs, and giving the mind free reign in its reactions.

Has fear taken you hostage too?

There are so many fears that can plague us:

• Spiders
• Snakes
• The dark
• The dentist
• Needles
• Heights
• Public Speaking
• Being Alone

I have several on this list.

And, the list is endless: cancer, divorce, death…

What does it take for us to be unafraid?

Gracie Malone has written a 365-Day devotional called, Unafraid.

Every day of the year she takes a verse about fear (yes, there are that many in the Bible) and writes about it in the context of everyday life.

As a fearful girl I think this is a wonderful resource to take us into God’s word and remind us of His faithful protection and care.

I’m learning that when something raises the hair on the back of my neck, the trick is to reason past the initial panic to the reality of who God is and what is really going on. I discover the fear is not quite as huge as it appears especially in the shadow of big God.

Battling fear takes reorienting our mind to the place of knowing that God is right there with us. Like a Heavenly Papa, we can know that we are not alone.

Gracie Malone’s book, Unafraid, will help to do that as we spend time in God’s word and discover what He says about fear.

What are you afraid of? [Click to Tweet This]

Have you found ways to become unafraid?

Jeanne

 

[1] Lloyd John Oglivie,Facing the Future without Fear, p. 14, ©1999 Servant Publications

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You can get a copy of Gracie Malone’s 365 Day Devotional here:

 Lloyd John Oglivie’s book is also available. He is the former chaplain to the U.S. Senate:

 

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