Fear, Forgiveness, Trust, and Love

Things I've been mulling over...

If I really believed the things that God tells me; if I really embraced Truth, I wouldn't be selfish anymore. I wouldn't say things to make myself look good in others' opinions, even at someone else's expense. I wouldn't care at all that this Illinois job and plan might not work out. I wouldn't care if I ended up being a janitor until I retired. I wouldn't mind if my boss found a typo in the last quiz I gave. I wouldn't get defensive when a student challenges my explanation of the past perfect tense. Because if I really believed God, really, truly, deep down, it'd be ok with me if people think I'm naive or unimportant or just plain dumb, because I would know that none of that matters. Not really. Not to God.

God loves me, even though __________.

That blank there? That's for you. (and by "you", I also mean "me") Fill it in with whatever you've got.

Your worst sin.

The time you hurt someone. On purpose. And then didn't even feel bad; in fact, were glad you'd done it.

That stuff you stole.

Those lies you told.

That addiction you feed.

Those times you cheated.

Give it your best shot. That blank will hold anything you can throw at it, because it's a God-designed Sin Black Hole. We call it forgiveness. The real problem is that once you see how horrible you are, it's hard to believe how incredibly GOOD God is. Our own fallen nature predisposes us to doubt God.

But take a minute to allow yourself the joy of thinking about what your life would be like if you could really, truly trust God to be who He is. If we could let go of the fear and live in the freedom of unconditional Love. If we passed out that unconditional Love to everyone we came across, because we knew it would never run out. If we let true Love cast out the fears in our lives and replace them with trust.

Imagine with me. And then ask with me. Ask God to show you the fear in your life, and to reveal the roots that hold it deep in your heart. Then get your work gloves on and start digging. You can't just get rid of the fear; it'll grow back. You have to start with the roots. Like dandelions. Trusting God will kill the roots. Also like dandelions, one try won't take care of the whole problem. Today you will allow God to cast out your fears, but you'll see them again. The seeds are still around. But the more often you let trust in God kill the roots of fear, the less fear will grow back. And eventually you'll be in the habit of trusting. The fear will become the exception.

Because God is Love, and there is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out fear. 1 John 4.

I'm going to try to let God's perfect love cast the fear out of my life. I hope you will join me.