I crawled into bed and slipped under a blanket of fear. My husband was out of town for work, and I was afraid to go to sleep. Fear had become a constant companion during his nights away.
Knowing I needed to trust God, I went through the motions of what good Christians do: I prayed, read Scripture and taped Bible verses on sticky notes to my lamp and bedside. But then I also put a phone under my pillow and a neighborhood directory beside my bed.
The next night, I took it a step further by putting toys on the stairs — to trip possible burglars. I brought my children into my room to sleep there as well, and moved the dresser in front of our bedroom door.
Although I thought I was controlling my circumstances, fear had taken control of me. Frustrated that I still couldn’t sleep, I opened the Bible and read a familiar passage:
“‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze’” (Isaiah 43:1b-2).
As I read each word slowly, God showed me something I’d never seen: My fears were like flames and my efforts to protect myself were like gasoline. Every attempt to ease my fears was like dousing fuel on the fire, and now it was consuming me.
Gently, the Holy Spirit reminded me that God had not given me a spirit of fear but a spirit “of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7b, NKJV).
Suddenly I knew the only way to overcome my fear was to walk in faith through what I feared the most. I had to put away the props in which I’d placed my faith and go to bed trusting God, realizing that even if my fears came true, He would be with me.
I crawled out of bed and put everything away. The dresser went back in place. My kids went back to their rooms and I went to sleep without my phone under my pillow. And that night, I slept better than I had in weeks!
Fear loses its power when we actively trust God more than what we fear. {Tweet}
Let’s ask the Lord to show us today what we’re afraid. What could be paralyzing your faith, and keeping you from living confidently in His peace and freedom? And let’s be brave enough to give God a chance to come though for us by taking one small step of faith in that area where we’re most afraid.
ENTER TO WIN
What small step of faith could you take to walk away from or through one of your fears today?
Share your thoughts below and ENTER TO WIN the audio version of A Confident Heart! ChristianAudio invited me to do the reading, so you’ll actually hear me telling the stories and sharing the teachings when you listen to it. And I’m so excited to give one to two of you that enter to win!
This has been a recurring theme in many devotions and blogs I’ve read this week. It keeps pointing me back to my fear of putting myself out there in my own blog. I start writing and then delete it quickly because I fear what people will think about it. But I am praying that God will use me to speak comfort to others experiencing a loss similar to mine.
I would like to win this for my daughter. We adopted her late in life with a history of abuse. This left her with many fears. She has been on a journey to overcome her past. In the last several months, she has actively taken part in her healing. I’m so proud of her. I think this book would be a great tool for her.
I would love to get this book. I have it and love it. I want to get it for one of my friends who is dealing with many of fears. I do not want to share what she is suffering from but her fear feels like its crippling her. I really would like her to have this wonderful book. I would’ve give her mine but I shared mine with another friend of mine. Thanks.
Thank you for sharing your story, and thanks to all whom commented. It is reassuring to know that many people struggle with fear. I do, and I especially hate that my children do too. I lost my husband to cancer a year and a half ago, and that has brought on many new fears for my family and me. I would be grateful for your prayers. God bless and keep us! Amen.
I have struggled the past 14 years on and off with anxiety. Almost constant for past 3 years. I have been working really hard to heal my mind/fears…..but I am not fully there yet. This sounds like a great audio that could help me. Thank u.
Working on claiming His promises and living like that
This was a right on time word THANK YOU JESUS I have been struggling with fear so long and I thought I was the only one I thank JESUS for everyone on here especially you RENEE cause now I can see a light at the end if the tunnel all I have to do is keep moving can we all just continue to pray for each other
Fear of being vulnerable and what people will think is crippling me! I realized that my battle is spiritual and that the enemy wants to keep me down. The small step I need to take is to find a trusted, godly woman who I can confide in – someone who will mentor, pray for and with me. The Lord has been laying that on my heart for a long time. I need to open up to someone and share my sorry…one step at a time! I trust my Jesus and look to him everyday for guidance. I can see He is working. Thank you for giving your hearts in these P31 devotions – God speaks to me through them!
Wow. reading a few comments above it truly is amazing how God works through us and brings a devotion like yours to so many people who are struggling with that same problem!! I too have been riddled by fear throughout my life, and although I look to prayer and scripture (not enough) I still fear. I need to trust in Him completely and declare out loud that Fear is NOT from God. Sin made fear, not God!!
Taking the step of praying to God that I will follow His will even if it is something out of my comfort zone in church, my career, or relationships.
I’ve struggled with fear my whole life. I was made to feel worthless growing up & as I became a Christian I feared failing God. I knew He was calling me to take huge steps of faith in sharing my testimony, but I worried that I would let Him down & fail Him. I have to constantly battle that & remember that it is HIM that will work through me & in my weaknesses. If I do this in my flesh I will fail. If I let Him do this through me, then nothing formed against me will stand!
Oh to hear your voice deliver the words in your beautiful book – what a blessing!
I am so fearful for my health. Ive been struggling with sickness for two months and im so afraid of not getting well and of being alone when I feel so bad. I know God’s got this but the fear overwhelms with sometimes I just sit and call His name . I really need prayer.
This devotional has hit me where I struggle not to live. Several comments have resonated: ones who are sick/aging and those with generalized anxious fear. I will pray for you! Add to the list a fear of coming bad times. I have copied some of the devotional and comments to a Word document that I will print out and reread when fear rears its ugly head. I will fight it with Truth! Thank you for this God-inspired well-timed devotional, and thank you for the precious comments of everyone who has shared her heart.
Renee, this devotional speaks to us all. We all have fears don’t we!? And yet God’s Word tells us “Do not Fear”. Thank you for your honesty.
I am going through a divorce (not my choice) but the Lord is holding me and teaching me and strengthing me through His Word. It is not the end of the story…the Lord is still writing my story.
I am holding to Psalm 27:14. I love that verse. I repeat it a lot in the middle of the night!
I just saw your’e post and I’m also seperated from my husband ( we aren’t divorced yet but He says he wants a divorce)we have been seperated for 3 years but neither one of us has filed. I am struggling with this because I have prayed and prayed and we have a 4 year old son that lives with my husband and I see him on weekends but I know that this is not God’s will for me and my little boy! I go to church every Sunday with my son by ourselves and my son prays like a 4 year old would and it breaks my heart:( I know that God will not force my husband to stay married and work things out if that’s not what he wants , so I’m praying that he will change his heart. I don’t know anyone who is going through the same as me so I just had to share a little bit with you. Do you have kids? How do you feel? Are you angry at God? or I should say at first were you angry at God? I have to be honest with you..I have days where I am frusterated and it comes out at God as anger but I know he understands.
This is what I needed to read for the day. I’ve been procrastinating out of fear instead of trusting God that He will help me to use my talents to help others and do what I love to do which is create art.
I’m 79yrs. old. My husband of 57yrs passed away in 12/12. I have this fear of driving alone and to new places . He always did the driving. My daughter lives 45min from my home and l have not driven to her home in the 5yrs she lives here. I am like a prisoner in my home. I only drive to places that are in my area.
I will not drive on freeways. I stress very easily I do have a GPS don’t trust it. Fear of moving from lane to lane when I do drive if needed to. Thinking of moving closer to my daughter but the fear of driving and learning to new places has kept me up at night. I also keep praying to God, but it doesn’t help feel confident.
These are also lessons I’m trying learn but not there yet.
I have battled anxiety my entire life, but more extremely over the last couple of years. I have so many crutches in place “to help me cope”. One of the crutches is never eating out with my husband, because I’m scared of a panic attack and making a complete fool of myself and my husband in a restaurant packed with people. It sounds so silly, but this fear is keeping me locked at home instead of enjoying my life and my marriage with my man. Just reading your post today has been amazing because I’m realizing that all those crutches I have so meticulously put in place are actually feeding my fear. And do not feed that fear anymore, I need to take those crutches away – which in itself can be quite a fearful thing to do.
This is a great devotion for today! It’s good to hear other believers struggle with ” Fear” also. I absolutely struggle with turning my will over to God but 2 seconds later I’m taking it right back because I’m afraid what I’m trusting God for won’t happen or won’t happen because he doesn’t want it to right now.
I have let “Fear” dictate to me what I was going to do for example: I have always been so afraid to fail, I never went to college because I didn’t want to take a chance and fail, I have left 2 marriages because I was so afraid of failing as a wife, my son lives with his dad because I’m afraid I will fail as a parent
because of my experience when I was a child, and on and on( You see where I’m going) I Thank-God that I’ve been set free from Fear and through the love of Christ I have been made whole! Satan is such a liar, and I hold onto 2 Timothy 1:7-” For God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and of a sound mind” Halleleujah!
having read through “Confident Heart” 3 times:) I would love to share an audio version with friends. I bought a copy for my daughter who just turned 20 and going away to college in couple of weeks. thank for this excellent book that is so practical!
God is so good and mindful of us! This came at exactly the time I need it. I am experiencing many changes in my life at this time and fear tries to consume me at times. The fear of the “unknown” and the “what ifs”. I keep reading scriptures and reminding myself- greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.
I need to change my focus off my pain that brings fear to my wonderful Redeemer and Savior. He is able. I don’t need to be able.
You know, I live my life in total fear of not being accepted or of being alone. I don’t “stir the waters” or stand up for myself because I am afraid that I will upset someone or someone won’t approve of me. It is no way to live my life. I need to come to the point where if I am standing up for myself, in love and not in hate or bitterness, I know I will be okay because I have Christ on my side. I need to be strong enough to know that I am okay because Jesus loves me and that is all I need. I don’t need to fear other people’s reactions to me or being alone because I will never be completely alone as long as I stand by my Lord and Savior! These are lessons I am trying to learn, but have not completely learned yet.
Hi:), I was just sitting here after leaving a comment, going over what some people left for comments and I came across your’e comment and I had to reply because everything you said was me for practically my whole life! When I was a child I grew up in a dysfunctional, alcoholic, abusive, could never do anything right no matter what I did, kinda family. As I grew up I was an “approval addict” meaning I needed the approval of everyone I dealt with whether it was at work, boyfriends, friends, church leaders, etc in order to feel worthy, and valued. Everyone’s opinion of me became how I based my worth and self esteem. If you didn’t like me well than it must be because I’m fat and ugly and whatever Satan put into my head. I went out of my way to get the approval of everyone. I didn’t like confrontation because what if I said something to upset you? Then you wouldn’t like me, right? Finally Jesus said: STOPPPP!
Once I became a christian and started really studying what the word says about me, and what God says about me, slowly I was set free from this. It wasn’t easy, in fact I still sometimes struggle but I know who I am in Christ. ” I am his masterpiece” ” I am created in his image” I am the head and not the tail” etc. So I just wanted to encourage you to focus on what Jesus thinks about you and slowly people’s opinions about you will suddenly not matter to you at all! One more thing..lol
Once we enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, We are NEVER alone ever again:) It’s funny because before I gave my life to Christ I didn’t know it, but I was alone. I always had people around me or with me so I thought I had friends, but the truth is they just wanted something from me..that’s all! Me and my husband are seperated and I had that fear of being alone to, but I started to meet other women and get numbers and before I knew it, I had so many ” Sisters in Christ” supporting me that being alone is something I now enjoy..lol Have a wonderful day and I’ll be praying for you!:)
this is EXACTLY what I needed to hear today!!! I am a new mom, but had a loss before our rainbow baby was born. I struggle with worry that something may happen to my baby. I’m constantly in fear of it and it has been shaking me to the core. I pray, I read, I meditate.. but these words were exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you for this God Wink Renee!!
I think “actively” is the key word here. We don’t just think it we let our actions reflect our faith. Hard but necessary. Thank you, Renee.
Apparently God knew exactly what I needed to hear today! Went through a devastating relapse of my husband’s alcoholism for three months earlier this year, and almost lost him. I work a very stressful job and this week the job stress came crashing down on my so hard that it has brought back up all of my fears, with the relapse fears leading the pack. As I drove home last night I prayed and repeated “I trust you Jesus” over and over. Thank you for the blog and all who responded, it surely helps to know that my weakness is shared by many others and that with scripture and more prayer I can keep working towards putting my faith ahead of my fear. My favorite scripture when I am fearful is Philippians 4:6-7. Peace and love to you all.
I would love the audiobook to encourage me in being more confident and less fearful. I’m a worrier and very uncomfortable in new situations and during change. I could really use this encouragement to seek God and know I’m not alone and do not need to worry and be afraid.
I will choose to trust what Isaiah 43:1-2 says. This is such perfect timing for me. I have been letting my fear paralyze me.
I choose to focus my attention more on the love of God than on the things I fear. 1 John 4:18a “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”
My six year old granddaughter has Selective Mutism. She speaks to only a select few people. We’re told this is an anxiety disorder. She says she’s afraid to talk to people. She is attending a special camp this week where counselors work with children individually and her parents receive training to help her overcome this. Pray with us that God will help her overcome this fear and someday be able to share Jesus with others vocally.
As a senior adult, I find myself very fearful over my future aging process – my physical health, my mental health, financial needs, etc. I guess I had thought by now, I would have it all together and rest in the God who has always watched over me. It is hard, though, when you are bombarded on all sides about the “woes”‘ of aging and second-guessing many of the decisions you have made in your earlier life; realizing there are no “do overs” at this point. Thank you for the devotion today and reminding me that God has this stage of my life covered as well and to “fear not” and rest in Him.
I have a fear of an odd thing. I am afraid to call my Mom. I am over 50 and she still has the power to frighten me and manipulate me. For 1&1/2 years I was not allowed to call them. Now I can call and she will talk to me, but it is so much work for me to do it. I have tried to set a day of when I will call, but it makes me so anxious and fearful. Some weeks I can do it, and others I do not and then feel guilty for not doing it. I have been praying and seeking guidance and counseling for this issue, but it is hard to recover from the psychological abuse of my past with her.
Leaning on Jesus when I am afraid helps me to push my fears aside. I would love to reinforce this habit by hearing what you have to say in the “A Confident Heart” audio book 🙂 Have a blessed day!
I am so fearful for my children, they are adults but I worry so much about them. I try to give my burdens to God and trust He will take care of them, but it is so hard! I love my boys so much, I want all good things for them.
Thank you for your timely message! My current circumstances are full of uncertainty and the longer this season has gone on the more I fear that it will never end. My fear allows so many negative thoughts and lies to drown out God’s Word and truth. Today I will aim to combat my fears and thoughts with God’s Word of true. When they arise I will find scripture and use that scripture to pray. I will not allow my fears to paralyze me to inaction. I will do what I can and trust God to fill in the gaps especially when the gaps are so big and seem impossible to fill. In the power of Jesus Name may my fear subside as I walk in faith and peace.
What a timely devotional. Fear is something that I struggle with daily & have let it guide me instead of trusting God the way I should. My prayer is to operate out of faith & not out of fear. Thank you for this devotional.
I would like a copy of the book as well. I am in a phase in my life when I have a lot of new things happening. I find the devil is fighting the process and using fear as a tactic. I would like to know how to eliminate any insecurities and doubt from my life. Thank you for the devotional it helped this morning.
2 Timothy 1:7 is one of my favorite scriptures. Amen.
These are some of the things I used to do when my husband wasn’t home. It’s been years since he’s had to be out of town. I’m thinking this is a reminder to NOT fear because that dreaded time is upon us again. My husband will be gone for a week. In God I will trust
This was me! Exchange the toys for extra locks and add an emergency key pad to the list. Honestly, I still have my moments because of past experiences. What helps me get through fear in any area is knowing that if “it”, whatever that may be, does happen,it’s because God allowed it. Knowing that gives me hope not of this world that just like the storm in the boat with the disciples, He has full power and control to manipulate all things! That gives me great joy and pushes out all doubt and fear which allows me to, just like Jesus did in that storm, to REST… rest in Him!
I love how God totally confirms (through your honesty) what He has been literally screaming to me for weeks now. He is doing incredible works in my life as I let go of a crippling fear that has plagued my family for generations. I know He has called me to change the course and legacy of who my family is by making me different, healed, and confident, but the enemy tends to work himself into my brain sometimes. Thank you for sharing your story. I know your book would only further solidify the freedom God has been granting me to move forward onto a better, more prosperous and fulfilling life.
i think we all suffer from some measure of fear. I know i definitely do. My biggest is the fear of failure. I fear that I will pour my heart and soul into something and in the end ultimately fail at it. My husband and I are in the process of reconciling our marriage of 12 years after a 9year separation. We both have a child outside of our daughter together. It is very scary because the only memories that I have from our marriage are from early on. And of course we had some great time but it always seem the worst ones sick out the most. We love each other so much that I have no doubt, but is love enough? Although the Lord has told and shown me that He can and will give me what I long for which is for my husband and my marriage to be restored but I’m very much afraid that it will fail yet again. Mostly i’m afraid that I will mess it up. I’ve changed alot over the years and God has had so much to do with that and He’s still working on me, but I’m afraid that that old me will somehow find a way to creep out and show up. It’s so scary to totally trust God when it shouldn’t be. Because He told us that ALL things work together for our good. But how do we just close our eyes, let go, and let God? God has never failed me before so why is it so hard for me to trust Him? Why is it so hard for me to relinquish total control to Him who holds my future in His hands? Fear. Fear of not knowing the outcome. Fear of thinking if we can control the outcome it’ll make things easier. I’m actually feeling silly typing this because I know better. God has done way too much for me and has shown up for me in my life way too many times for me not to trust Him. I refuse to allow fear to paralyze me in my home, in my relationship, in my business and in my ministry. It’s just not worth it. i sure needed this. Thank you Renee
Thank you for this timely reminder. Having severe anxiety, it is a daily fight on every hand. I must remember to trust the Lord in EVERYTHING I do. Thank you again.
I could fill up your blog with fears!! Whenever my husband is away or I have to go somewhere for work, I am afraid. I’ve been known to put a chair against a hotel room, the ironing board across that and rig the iron to hit someone in the head if they came into the room!! It’s my inner fears that grip me the most because those are in my heart and mind. Those types of fears run through my daily life. What I need to do is put my faith into action by trusting God’s Word. He has never left me or forsaken me and his Word says He never will!! I need to look back more often and think about the times I was most afraid and how God brought me through, staying with me and His comfort soothed my soul.
One of the most devastating and paralyzingly outcomes from a childhood riddled with heinous abuse is fear and distrust. Distrust in nearly everyone who comes your way, Godly people included. Ashamedly, even fear and distrust in God. My life has been controlled by this fear and has isolated me from others but more profoundly has isolated me from God. To where I want to trust God and yet something within me prevents it. Fear of being hurt, of God not protecting me from the abuse. Recently a long lost relative has connected with me. I am fearful of this person hurting me, distrusting them. Not a physical harming, but an emotional harming. I’ve been wrestling with this and feel drawn to maybe not let this gripping fear get in the way….to try and trust this relative. So frightening!
Praying for you Sunny!!
*sorry “a confident heart”.
yeah! I struggle with fear in big decisions of life and even Lil things like starting a conversation with somebody or just anything I could start in fear..would be a blessed to have a copy of the confident woman.thanks God bless.
Oh me oh my! what an on time lesson, I have ways struggled with fear but it greatly increased one night when a 15 year old threatened me with a knife in the driveway of McDonald’s he took my car and phone. What scared me the most was my three year old was with me and at the time I was 6 months pregnant. For so long I asked God over and over ” I TRUSTED YOU SO MUCH WHY DID YOU LET THIS HAPPEN” Now I’m so scared of what could happen because I never thought that something like that could or ever would happen to me, but little by little I can feel God calling me through whispers of love to trust him with everything. My small step of faith is to trust, simply just trust, in my Jesus the savior of the world. In the midst of my chaos I will trust in him. Amen
Turn the situation over to God completely and don’t take it back from him. That’s like telling God, I don’t think you got this so let me have it back so I can handle it. And that more times than I like to admit gets me into trouble. God’s plans are better than mine and always will be because he sees the whole picture and all I can see is what is right in front of me. This is a hard lesson for me to learn and I still haven’t even coome close to mastering it. God is working all things out for good and he knows the plans he has for me. I just have to be willing to trust him and let him be God, because he can bring more good out of any situation than I could.
This devo on fear could not have come at a better time. Dealing with having a thief on our street last night and having gotten better with fear the thief set me back. I so appreciate the transparency about the dresser because I started to unreasonably decide where my kiddos would be sleeping tonight. Feeling anxious and angry all at the same time. The verse was an answer to a prayer I had prayed today about God calling me by name. What a good God we serve.
I am going through a difficult time in my life right now. My husband just got sent to prison for 25 years for a crime he says he didn’t commit. He is a very godly man, who doesn’t belong in there. I pray that God protects him during this time. He was the sole provider for our family so my two young kids and I are living with my parents now. One small step of faith I can take to get my through this is to take one step at a time and FULLY trust God during this time. Only God can get us though this. I also feel called to write a book about my experience before and now after the Holy Spirit began to guide me, but I have no where to start. Another small step is just write down my testimony and start from there.