What does fear make us do?
September 12 - September 16, 2022 | Always Peachy Devotionals | Fear Week 2
Hello, friends.
I hope you’re doing well today and that this note finds you in a good place. If you’re not in a good place today, please know that I’m praying for you. You may not know me (there’s several folks here now who don’t, which wonderful), but God knows who you are. And I trust that He will demonstrate His love for you in some way today.
I can’t let today go by without a brief moment of remembrance for that day 21 years ago when the world turned upside down. I was at college a thousand miles away from home when the Towers came down. I felt so alone and so scared, and my heart broke for our nation.
I thought it was a day the world could never forget—let alone our country. But it’s true that all it takes for history to be lost is an unwillingness to talk about it. After all, how can future generations even know it happened unless those of us who witnessed it are willing to speak up?
That’s true for more than just the events of September 11, 2001. It’s true for matters of faith as well. If we who have been changed by Jesus’ blood refuse to speak about it, how will anyone know it happened?
We live in interesting times, my friends, where so many things that used to be good are now called bad, and where so many bad things are now called good. Fear is the norm in our culture now, but is that how Jesus-followers are called to live? In fear?
No. We are called to live in Perfect Love, which is the opposite of fear. Academically we know that letting fear control us is a bad idea, but have we ever stopped to think about what fear will lead us to do in our lives? Fear will make us:
September 12 - Hurt others
September 13 - Hurt ourselves
September 14 - Blame God
September 15 - Keep silent
September 16 - Live in anxiety
That’s what we’re studying this week, and for our memory verse, the Lord led me to Luke 10:41-42.
This is Jesus’ response to one of the most anxiety-ridden characters in all of Scripture, Martha of Bethany. We’ll focus on her a bit more this coming Friday, but for now it’s important to see how Jesus responds to our fear. With kindness and truth.
Fear doesn’t have to control us. We may live with it. We may exist in a world that’s overcome by it, but it doesn’t have to overcome us. This week we’ll learn how to recognize it in ourselves and in others, and I pray that together we’ll hear from God. That He’ll show us how to face down our fears and let His peace rule in our hearts. Because that’s really how to live your best life.
Blessings to you all, friends.
Amy
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