How To Live Fearlessly

“Those who are righteous will be long remembered. They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to care for them. They are confident and fearless….”
Psalm 112:6b-8a (NLT)

Researchers tell us there are over 500 named phobias, though the list is constantly growing as new fears are identified and documented. Seems like Fear is on the rise!  But imagine living a life without fear for a moment! Sound impossible? Look at the promise in Psalm 112:6b-8a (NLT), “Those who are righteous will be long remembered. They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to care for them. They are confident and fearless….” This is the description of those who only fear the Lord. The fear of the Lord is a reverent and holy fear. It is a deep respect for who God is and what He can do. Oswald Chambers once wrote, “The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”

If we have a healthy fear of God, we can live without the fears that trouble most of our lives. In this Psalm, the Bible says such people do not fear bad news. That’s a fear that haunts so many people today. Feeling like they live in a house of cards, they wonder when it will all come crashing down. Have you ever felt that way?

How can we conquer our fears? Faith overcomes fear. Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s acting despite my fears. Faith enables me to do that. The Psalmist says that those who confidently trust the LORD to care for them … do not fear bad news! They are confident and fearless…. What a promise to claim! Wouldn’t you like to live your life like that? You can!

How? In another Psalm, the Bible says: “The LORD is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? Yes, the LORD is for me; He will help me.” Psalm 118:6-7 (NLT).

This is a disposition of faith, a confidence in God’s unconditional love for me. What do you put your confidence in?  Pilots put their confidence in their planes. Commuters place their confidence in trains, cars, or buses. Each day, we must put our confidence in something or someone. If you are willing to trust a plane or a car to get you to your destination, are you willing to trust God to guide you here on earth and to your eternal destination?

When you get onto a plane, how much effort do you exercise to fly? None! It would look funny if you began flapping your arms. The flight attendants would probably usher you off the plane before it took off! The only effort you make is to sit back, buckle your seatbelt, and relax. You simply let the plane fly you to your destination. The more you fly, the less conscious you become of the faith you are exercising in that plane to fly you. When we put our faith in God, we can relax in the all-sufficient arms of a Heavenly Father who holds us in the palm of His hand! He’s got it all under control! We don’t even have to be afraid of bad news.

Does that mean that bad things won’t happen? Faith isn’t some vaccination that inoculates us with immunity to bad things. This is a fallen world, and few get out alive and unscathed, but we don’t have to live in fear. We can live in faith, trusting our Heavenly Father to keep what we have committed unto Him. The Psalmist gives us a practical way to handle our fears in Psalm 56:3-4. It was written by King David, who was a mighty man of God and a courageous soldier who led the armies of Israel with great victories against overwhelming odds! Even he struggled with fear, but as he grew in faith, he found a way to conquer those fears. What did he do? He said, “When I am afraid, I will trust in You. I praise God for what He has promised.  I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?  What can mere mortals do to me?”  

When David felt afraid, rather than panic, he prayed and reassured himself with the promises of God. When bad news comes into your life, you have a choice. You can panic, or you can turn to God in prayer, trusting His promises that He loves you and will never leave you nor forsake you. Put your confidence in God and begin to live fearlessly!

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To read this devotional online or catch up on past ones, visit https://kerryshook.org/blog.

Another important part of your daily devotional is spending time with God in prayer. The Woodlands Church Prayer Board lists prayer requests submitted by our members and provides a way to send them some encouragement by using a button on the page to let them know that you prayed for them. Whether you use the Prayer Board, or pray from your heart, the goal is to build the habit of incorporating prayer into your quiet time.

Need prayer yourself? Let us know by submitting a prayer request on the Woodlands Church Prayer Board.