Thou Shalt Not Fear! But if you do…

And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear…So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah… (I Kings 17:13-14, NKJV)

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I read the other day that there 5 kinds of fear are:

1. Panic
2. Terror
3. 15 missed calls from mom
4. Reading on your computer screen: “Wrong Password”
5. Hearing from family and friends: “We need to talk”

One thing is for sure, fear is one of the most common emotions we all share.  It permeates our society and our lives.  And it always has.  This is a dangerous world and has been from the start.  Our very first parents discovered, to our everlasting regret, that evil can even slither into the most secure and pleasant places. 

That’s why the Bible is constantly instructing us to fear not.

But we do.

And God knows it and thus repeats Himself over and over and over – “Fear not.”

But here’s the deal.

Either way, fearful or fearless, you’ve got to keep living. 

And that leads me to our widow from Zarephath again…

There she is, preparing to die, giving up, checking out, blinded by fear. 

She’s poking around through the scraps at the city gate trying to muster the resources to cook one more meal and then die.  And out of the blue a man of God shows up and starts making demands, reminding her that there’s a tomorrow.  He knows God’s got something cookin, he knows that something’s afoot.  To her it feels like the end of the world, but the truth is, she’s one meal away from a new beginning. 

The Bible never says whether or not she stopped being fearful (I doubt it), but it did say she obeyed. 

The voice of fear and doubt can get really loud, but get up and get going.  Sometimes (most times?) you have to run the entire race with fear nipping at your heels. 

Fear of failing

Fear of what others will say (or do)

Fear of dark places

Fear of the unknown

Fear, fear, fear…

But keep running, keep moving forward, go another day, try again, choose to live, to fight through it, to finish.  It does happen…even for the fearful that dare to go on anyway.

The ONE THING for today: “Fear not” is the ideal, the best option.  But sometimes you have to go with option #2 – Living forward in spite of your fear.   And the good news is there’s room in the winner’s circle for the brave and the fearful.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash