Fearless

God is our refuge and strength,

    an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

    and the mountains quake with their surging.

Psalm 46:1-3

Christians ought to be the most fearless of all people in the world. By that I don't mean that we should make reckless decisions or carelessly enter into dangerous situations. Rather, I mean that no situation that arises in our lives rightly ought to cause us to fear. Now, that's a rather bold statement when you really think about it, but I believe Scripture supports it. 

In the passage above the psalmist says that even if all of creation itself began to shake and come undone, that he would not fear. Why? Because God is his refuge even in the midst of great chaos. God is in control, God is all-powerful, and God is good. These three truths are all you need to know to stop fear dead in its tracks for if all three of these are true, then believers have no reason to fear anything or anyone other than God.

Think about it. Any person or circumstance that enters your life to do harm, is under God's control. He allowed it. He can stop it. Ultimately, your fate is in His hands. So even if someone holds you up at gun point, you can trust God. When you are diagnosed with cancer, you can face it without fear knowing that your life is in His hands. Don't get me wrong. Christians are still human. I know that we will still fear at times. Even Paul was afraid when his life was in danger (2 Corinthians 7:5). But at the end of the day, there is no reason for us to live in fear of anything or anyone.

Scripture commands us over and over again to fear God, but it never commands us to fear anyone or anything other than God. (The only possible exceptions to this rule are Proverbs 24:21-22 and Ephesians 6:5, but I believe both speak of fearing human authority as extensions of God's authority.) 

Still not convinced? David takes up this same theme in several other psalms. He promises not to fear even when tens of thousands attack him on every side (Psalm 3:5-7), or when he walks through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4), or even if an entire army should declare war and besiege him (Psalm 27:1-3). The sons of Korah dare to ask why they should fear anyone but God? (Psalm 49:5). Another psalmist still comes right out and says "surely the righteous...will have no fear" (Psalm 112:6-8). Why all this fearlessness? Because faith is the antithesis of fear. Their fear of God and their faith in God is so strong that it drives out all other fear.

Heavenly Father, fill me with a holy fear of You and a bold faith in You that I might not fear anyone or anything else. For if You be for me then what can man do to me? And if You be against me, then who can protect me? Only let me be right with You, Lord.

For further reading...

• Luke 12:4-5- Don't fear people who can kill you. Fear God.
• Psalm 91:4-8- Another psalm that promotes fearlessness.