Had lunch with a friend last week… and the topic of fear came up.

We talked about altering our daily plans because we are afraid that something bad was going to happen to us. Call it logical or not, we discussed literally changing how we live our lives… mainly because we were fearful of a negative outcome.

And yet, as Christians, we are admonished not to fear.  In the Bible there are over 500 verses that remind us to not be fearful.  500 Bible verses?!  That’s plenty of reminders! 

Simply put, the Heavenly Father does not want us to fear!  He does not want us to operate our daily lives from a place of fear.  He does not want us to be fearful of ANYTHING.  And He wants to remind us of that often… even on a daily basis?  He wants us to rest in His divine peace…

And yet, in the thick of things it’s so difficult not to fear.  Yesterday I received a phone call from my cycling husband… and the call came mid-ride.  {And a mid-ride phone call isn’t typically a good thing… an accident?  bad news?  what happened?}  And I immediately switched from “happy-to-be-alive / it’s-a-beautiful-day” mode into full-fledged fear mode… in 5 seconds flat!   Did he get hit?  Did he crash?  Are there broken bones?  Is my husband ok?

And I sat down on the porch steps and tears rolled down my face… and the words escaped like a quick breath, “Lord Jesus, please protect my husband!” 

He’s as close as a prayer.   He never leaves us.

There is no power in fear.  But there IS power in His name.  In HIS NAME!  His name drives out fear…

I’m happy to report that my cycling-fanatic husband was fine.  And my worst fears were un-founded.  My Heavenly Father DID protect him!  His bike was not ride-able at the moment… but not a scratch on him.  And I recognize that my fear in those moments could not have changed the outcome.  My fears put my head in a bad space, an unproductive space.  And my Heavenly Father knew how to care for the details of that situation better than I could have ever imagined.

Soooo, I renew my daily study of the “do not fear”, “be not afraid” Bible verses… and I rest in the knowledge that my Heavenly Father knows what He’s doing.  THERE is power in that acknowledgement… there is healing in Him… there is peace in His name.