Forty Days Without FearSample

WILL FEAR OR FAITH DIRECT OUR PATH?

Have we ever walked down a dark street late at night and seen a group of people lurking ahead of us in the distance? We instantly feel intimidation and fear, and that fear often makes us change direction. We turn around, going back the way we came, thinking that the old, familiar route will be safer. We walk away from the danger we anticipate in front of us. This is the power of fear. It can divert us, redirect us, and send us off-track, like a spiritual Satnav re-routing our journey. 

In our example of walking down a dark street, our fear may have worked as a survival mechanism; it might have saved us from danger, but in our walk with God, the enemy uses the same fear tactics to derail us from our destiny:

1 Peter 5: 8: Be well balanced and always alert, because your enemy, the devil, roams around incessantly, like a roaring lion looking for its prey to devour.

Here the enemy is described as a lion seeking out the fearful and vulnerable, especially those who are isolated and alone - another reason why it’s good to have an army of solid relationships around us! The enemy uses fear to stop us going where God has called us to go and prevents us from reaching the people God wants us to reach – friends, family, neighbours, and colleagues. It stops us being carriers of the Good News, from being salt and light, and from going into the world making followers of Jesus. 

One of the ways the enemy makes us fearful of the present is by bringing up the past – our past mistakes, our past pain, and our past failures. However, it’s like when driving a car - if we want to go somewhere, we need to spend more time looking through the windshield than the rear-view mirror. 

We need to look more at where we are going rather than where we’ve been. It’s the same in life. If we are going to face the fears the enemy tries to use to stop us in the future, we will need to learn from the past, but not live in it. The past is a place of reference, not residence. As it has been said many times, ‘Your history does not need to dictate your destiny.’ 

Today is a new day, so let’s enjoy looking at the glorious future God has for us. Let’s allow God’s Spirit to lead us to ‘where our trust is without borders,’ and may we walk across those borders, wherever God has called us, in freedom from fear of the past.

Action: When we reflect – are there choices or decisions we’ve made out of fear, rather than faith? Talk to God about these and maybe it’s time to make another decision!