Rewriting FearSýnishorn

Truth is a fixed thing, immovable and unchanging, set into the fabric of life’s reality. We can’t adjust it or change it. It is not relative to each person’s personal perspective. Jesus is the embodiment of truth (John 14 v6). His Word, the Bible is a source of truth (John 1 v1) and we need to worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4 v24). Finally, the Bible tells us that the truth sets us free, therefore, since Jesus is truth, He sets us free (John 8 v32).

Our enemy, the devil, is a liar and a bully. He uses fear to get us to substitute God’s truth for lies, and deception, to trip us up in our ability to relate to God, as Jesus intends us to. When God says that all who come to Him are forgiven, the devil whispers, “Yes, but you should have known better. God won’t forgive you this time. You keep making the same mistake. Your repentance is not sincere.” He sets a false perception that exists only in our minds, one based on a fear of God’s rejection of us. 

In that moment, we begin to live with a fear that makes us insecure with God, like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We begin to metaphorically clothe ourselves and try to make ourselves acceptable to God, trying to earn his approval, fearing His rejection. Then, the devil has succeeded in breaking our relationship with God, as we no longer relate to Him in spirit and in truth, but rather in insecurity and deception. We no longer feel comfortable looking Him in the eye, but rather looking down and away.

In times like this, we need to train ourselves to cast away our fear and rather rely on God’s truth. The perfect love of God for us and the completeness of His forgiveness is not affected by our insecurity, anxiety, or our personal feelings. When we meditate on the truth of God’s Word, we can say to those fearful thoughts of rejection, “I don’t believe you. I believe in and rely on God’s truth. I benefit from what I don’t deserve, and fear of God’s rejection has no place in me.” In that moment fear will be driven out and we will be left with God’s perfect love for us, ready to live and respond to it as we should.