Do Not Let Fear Control You
Mark Twain once said, “Courage is resistance to fear; mastery of fear, not the absence of fear.” Erica Jong said, “I have not ceased to be fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me.” Fear can do strange things to people. When one lets fear consume her, more often than not, she turns away from God. Everyone has fear, as Mark Twain said. It is part of what makes us human. However, as Erica Jong said, to overcome it we must not allow fear to dictate our lives.
There are many accounts of people who displayed courage in the Bible, people who made the choice to be courageous, as the Bible says to in Joshua 1:9.
In Joshua 14:6-15, the story of the twelve spies is portrayed. As stated by the song, “Twelve little spies went down to Canaan, ten saw bad and two saw good.” Ten of the twelve came back to Moses presenting a bad report of the land they were to conquer, but Joshua and Caleb exemplified a very commendable trust in the Lord. They believed that even though the task, conquering Canaan, seemed nonviable, they could accomplish it with God. They did not let fear take hold of them, as the other ten did, but trusted that God would protect them.
In 1 Samuel 17, we read of the infamous battle between David and Goliath. Goliath was an exceptionally tall man, who flaunted his power to the Israelites all the time. However, none of the Israelites stood up to him because they let their fear of him control them. None of them believed that God could help them. The only person who did believe was a young shepherd boy named David. God gave David the courage he needed to defeat Goliath, and David did just that! He was not fearful of the giant but believed in the power of God.
There is an abundance of courageous biblical characters; but there is one person in the Bible whose valor and courage cannot be matched. Jesus’ courage saved millions of lives and is still doing so today. When it was time for Him to die on that cross, he begged and pleaded with God to relieve him of this heart-wrenching task (Matthew 26:36-56). Jesus was significantly frightened of this daunting task, but he controlled his fear.
When He knew it had to be done, He did it. He was killed in the most agonizing way known to humanity for flawed, sinful people so that they get a chance to be with Him in Heaven. Jesus was the most courageous man to ever live. He was not obsequious to his fear, as many are today; he gave his courage as a sign of love towards us.
Do not let fear control you. Have courage.
Shelby Brooks