Nougat 1

What do we do when Fear visits? Consider today’s Holy Nougat

“I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness; let us exalt his name together.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭34‬:‭4 & 3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Prior to the establishment of what is now the UN, President Theodore Roosevelt proposed that there are Four Freedoms due every human. Freedom from Fear is one of them. Unfortunately, freedom from Fear is not as easily eradicated by a declaration; for there are different types of fear, some culturally appropriated and others rooted in unpleasant (personal) experiences of danger, pain or harm. The sense of vulnerability that accompanies the threat or reality is what triggers the fear. Whatever the root cause, fear can crippling, whether it expands to being a traumatic response or just a momentary challenge to be overcome.

I suspect we each have had our own fear moments; where we had to accept our own sense of feeling threatened.For the onlooker, most fear responses are irrational. And some may very well be irrational; but for the one living through the moment – real or remembered – that trauma is real. What is your response to Fear? Does that experience influence your perspective or actions presently? How does the memory of the moment affect you now? Most of all, to whom do you, rather could/can you, turn for help?

It is likely that there were no therapists in David’s time; or if they existed, the record does not reflect that. But then as now, fear was real. For David (who is credited with writing this and other similar psalms), war carried the threat of death and destruction. Yet, it seems – for the most part – that David was never afraid. Why?

We know that when deliverance takes place, there must be something to fill the void or the issue gets worse (see Matthew 12:43-45). And that is probably how fear gets irrational. When God vanquishes our Fears, Love, Power and Soundness of Mind (ie rational thought) are instilled in us , and so there’s no room left for Fear (see 1Timothy 1:7b). David understood that principle some centuries earlier. He found the antidote to fear and wrote about it. It’s the very same antidote Paul shared with his mentee Timothy, when he wrote ‘God has not given us a spirit of fear …’ (1Timothy 1:7) and the antidote is God’s Spirit.

We all have access to the very same Antidote. Oh yea; when we cry out to God, we can find peace despite the storm raging around us. What a blessing to know that although Fear can present as a spirit, our God can deliver us! Only thing for us to do then is to praise the God Who delivers us from all our fears! President Roosevelt was right; humanity ought to live free from fear. May we turn to God’s Spirit for deliverance.

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May all we seek be found in Christ