Fear

Fear

Christmas 2006, we saw the movie "Facing the Giants." One of the characters in the movie says something about there being 365 do not be afraid verses in the Bible. I cried through most of the movie. Struck by how scared I was, I decided I'd have to see if there really were 365 verses that told me not to fear. A few days went by and I didn't look that up. I was sitting in my car outside Big Lots when Casting Crown's "Voice of Truth" came on the radio. Again I was bawling. I knew fear was something I needed to deal with.

See, we'd moved to Bismarck from California six months earlier. We bought our house without ever seeing it in person. We didn't know a soul in Bismarck and Scott didn't have a job when we got here. By the time Christmas came, Scott was still looking for work and we were both anxious and scared, wondering if we'd made the right decision.

Again in my car that afternoon, I resolved to look up those verses. But I didn't. Then a few days after Christmas, I sprained my ankle and couldn't walk. With nothing to do but sit around, I got out my Bible and my laptop and looked up all those verses. Sure enough, God tells us "do not be afraid," "have not fear," 'do not be discouraged," "fear not" and "be strong" 365 times. That's once a day. I guess He knew fear would be a daily struggle for most of us.

Still there are days when life is scary or when I wake up to an anxiety attack. That's when I look at this calendar I made and remember Genesis 3:15, Joshua 10:8, Joel 2:21, Matthew 28:5, Acts 27:4 and my favorite, Deuteronomy 31:8 "The Lord goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."