Fear Not

READ: ISAIAH 41:8-10; 43:1-4

What’s your biggest fear? Heights? Spiders? Snakes? Death? Those are the common ones, but there are other fears that are a little too close for comfort. For example, teens (and adults) tend to get bombarded with a lot of social fears. There is so much pressure to have the perfect body, the perfect performance, the perfect “stuff”—or at the very least to look like your life is perfectly put together. There just doesn’t seem to be room for being human.

Society feeds into those fears because the world’s focus is not on pleasing God but on trying to make yourself or others happy. But guess what? Each person has a different idea of what makes them happy, so, ultimately, we’re all struggling with how elusive happiness is—but everyone is too afraid to admit it. And so, out of that fear, we as humans become so focused on superficial happiness that we become afraid of being open and honest with others about the deepest aspects of ourselves (including our fears).

As Christians, we don’t have to be wrapped up in and motivated by fear. God has made us in His image, and He has called us His children (Genesis 1:27; John 1:12). When we put our faith in Jesus, He gives us a new identity: His righteousness (Romans 3:21-22). In that identity, there is no fear—only true satisfaction and joy in knowing our Creator, even when our circumstances are less than happy.

I once read somewhere that the Bible says “do not fear” 365 times. Even if that number isn’t exact, it shows how much God cares about our fears. He knows our deepest thoughts, even before we know how to express them (Romans 8:26-27). He knows why we fear what we fear, and yet the Bible says He “has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). • Abigail Rose

• What are some fears you have, based on society’s pressures?

• What do you think God has to say about those specific fears?

• If you know Jesus, how can you live bravely knowing that God is always with you, even when you are fearful (Matthew 28:20)?

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)