RELEASE THE FEAR



Romans 8:14-17a (NSRV)
    For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!”  it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ ...

 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)
              For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.


"RELEASE THE BABY!"

That's one of my favorite lines from the animated movie, "The Croods."  It's from the first hunting scene when Sandy, a fierce and fearless toddler, is set loose to join the hunt.

The Croods are a family of cave people who live in a harsh and hostile prehistoric world.  They have survived by living by the rules on their cave walls.  Curiosity is bad.  Leaving the safety of their cave at night is bad.  Anything new or different is bad, and anything risky, adventurous or fun is definitely against the rules.  As a result, they spend most of their days imprisoned in their cave by fear and terror.

There's healthy, rational fears that keep us from harming ourselves and others.  There's also irrational fears, phobias.  For example, I have a fear of heights, especially when it comes to bridges.

The fear I'm talking about comes from worrying about the unknowns and the "what ifs."   Those thoughts can tie us up in emotional knots and imprison us in a state of powerlessness and fear.  "I dare to" becomes "I dare not."  "I will" becomes "I can't."  Worry and fear and the negative thoughts that come with them can immobilize us.    It's also not good for our physical health either.

My mother use to tell me, "Don't go troubling trouble until trouble troubles you."  That is,  don't worry about or be fearful of something that hasn't happened -- easier said than done at times when your well-being or the well-being of someone you love is involved.

For those "dark cave" times, I've found it is helpful to remember this:  "Every good gift, every perfect gift, comes from above. These gifts come down from the Father, the creator of the heavenly lights, in whose character there is no change at all."  James 1:17 (CEB)

God is the source of all good things.  All good things.  The fear that comes from our constant focus on negative possible outcomes is not a good things, so it's not from God, and it's not something God wants us to have.

According to God's Word, the gift of the Holy Spirit that is ours through our relationship with Jesus Christ, who lived and died and rose again for us, does not trap us in dark caves of fear.  Through that Spirit, God shares His grace with us -- the gifts of assurance that we are God's children and heirs of all His goodness, of love, power and a calm and peaceful mind.

Fear and worry can trap us in a dark place, and that state is not what God wants for us.  So instead of releasing control of our lives and our thoughts to fear, we need to give those fears to God, asking the One who loves us most to replace them with hope and peace.

Don't release a spirit of fear into your life.

RELEASE THE SPIRIT OF GOD!




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