Fear Not — A LifeWords Devotion

The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    so why should I be afraid?
The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger,
    so why should I tremble?
When evil people come to devour me,
    when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.
Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid.
    Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident. (NLT)

The most common command in the Bible is “fear not”. Rather comforting in that it shows us that God is aware we often get afraid. The Psalmist often confesses his fear, but as in this passage, he seeks to put that fear into its wider context.

He recognises the power of his opponents, he faces the reality of a threatening world. He does not deny his fears. Rather he places the reality of those threats into the wider and deeper reality of the love and power of God.

We might say that he is showing courage. Courage is not denial of fear or threat, it is being willing to face the fear and threat head on. Courage only has meaning when fear or threat is present. If there is nothing to be afraid of, nothing threatening us, then courage is meaningless. We don’t need courage if nothing threatens us.

Courage kicks in when there is fear. Courage involves the wise summoning of resources to face the fear. We don’t become courageous when we stop being afraid. We become courageous when we resolve not to let those fears shape our response. We can be scared stiff and courageous all at once. Scared because of the presence of a powerful threat. Courageous because of the presence of an even more powerful God.

Blessings

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David