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.
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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!
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I hope I win this book. I need to see what it says n how I can actually face and get rid of all my fears.
I love your line, “Fear loses its power when we actively trust God more than what we fear.”
I specifically love the “actively trust God” part! Whenever I notice that I am living in anxiety and fear, I recognize that I’m trying to live life in my own strength again. It makes me realize that I’m not sticking close to God, but wandering a bit further away. Trusting God means actively seeking Him out. That’s when I can have more clarity on His desires and will for me. Then I can follow in faith, knowing that I can trust His plan even if it feels scary.
Hi Renee! Thank you for your post and being real. I am struggling right now with some fears of my own. My husband is a pastor and we have been at this church for a little over 3 years and we are in a spiritual battle! I know God wants me to trust Him thru this and to know He has the answers to it all.God Bless
Your devotion on fear really helped me a lot. Now we must with God ‘s help, face our fears, instead of running from our fears with God’s help. Thank you for your book. I pray I can get it. Have a blessed day !
“Fear loses its power when we actively trust God more than what we fear.”
~ Amen. Thank you for sharing this powerful reminder!
This came at a good time. I am starting grad school on Monday and absolutely terrified of failing. The fear is so great that it just makes me want to take the easy way out and not even try to get through it. I know that is not the rewarding way but I’ve lost all confidence in myself and it is really getting to me.
Congratulations Megan on taking the step to start Grad school! I love how God gives us encouragement in His word. He has made you unique and has a specific purpose and plan just for you! I have often found that when I am lacking confidence, it’s often because I compare myself to others and come out on the end of not being “good enough.” One of my favorite verses are Galatians 6:4-5 (The Message)
4-5 Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.
These verses remind me that God has a plan for me that I can “sink” into with confidence. I love how this is followed up with the reminder not to compare myself with others because that is what often can cause me to falter. I hope you find these verses encouraging like I do.
I struggle with anxiety about my cancer returning. I had breast cancer surgery in February and I am now considered cancer free. I know the Lord healed me, but I still struggle with fear.
Fear is my biggest enemy! I will rest in God and focus more on Him.
When with family remember God is with me & he chose me & I belong in His family even when I don’t feel like I belong in mine!!
I TRUST GOD BUT I need to increase my faith,q I ques. I pray your book will help me learn how. God bless you and whom ever receive the prize!
My fear presently is to walk through the divorce my husband is pursuing. I know in my mind God is and will be with me however my heart isn’t on the same page sometimes.
This was yesterday’s devotional. I read it in the morning, it hit close to home, and I prayed over it.
I have struggled with control throughout my life. I take things a little bit too far sometimes. I developed anorexia during my teenage years, and though I have since overcome that disorder, I still have those thoughts from time to time. I don’t limit myself on eating, but I still worry, what if?
I am huge into competing in triathlons, and at times I feel “those” thoughts creep in. If there is a day where I don’t feel good, or hurt, and I have to miss out on parts or all of my training, WHAT IF I mess up my performance on race day?
Then the eating disorder thoughts come…”With all this food you now eat, if you don’t get all your training in you’re gonna get fat.”
It’s vicious and it is my fear that I prayed about yesterday morning.
…and then I was paralyzed. I couldn’t finish my training workout, so I took it upon myself to do other forms of cardio…for a lot longer…to try to “make up”. No, who was I kidding? I was so paralyzed and deep inside myself with feelings of fear and anxiety that I TOTALLY left God out of the picture.
Today, I am still not feeling well. I have a run scheduled today, but I’m gonna give myself a break and TRUST GOD! I’ll be ok on race day and I will not get fat. I’m going to rest in Him.
Thank you for sharing this message with me and I pray that I can overcome this fear.
I would love to win a copy of your audiobook.
Your words ring so true. Fear can certainly paralyze me. Mostly my fears come from the fear of failing or disappointing others. I don’t want to give these fears power anymore. I am ready to live the rich and satisfying life God has in store for me!!
I would love to win a copy of your audiobook! This is an issue I really struggle with. I keep a handy list of scriptures to remind me who I am in Christ, and this does help me put the fear into its proper perspective.
My biggest fear is driving. I’m so afraid that I will get in an accident. It’s so bad that I rely on other people to take me places. I know I can’t depend on others but I just can’t bring myself to getting behind the wheel. I’ve never been in an accident so I don’t know why I am this way. I’m missing out on a lot of social things because of this. Lord I need you as my copilot.
My husband of 30 years wants a divorce and I am so trying to trust God. I pray for the pain the go away. He doesn’t want a relationship with God, so I don’t know anything to do but to leave, as that what he wants. This verse was the one I have held on to since 2003 when my mother was diagnosed with cancer. It got me through her 10 year battle before she went to be with the Lord, so thank you for reminding me with this verse in God’s word.
I’m struggling with the fear of success. I procrastinate and am afraid of the responsibility and pressure that comes with being the best me that God has created. I want to walk in my purpose, but I often fall back into believing the lies of the enemy. I want to walk in the deliverance & freedom that Christ has granted me.
MissyT, I totally understand this fear! I have struggled with the same thing. I continue to remind myself that God created me unique and that I am the only one who can do what God created me to do! I also remind myself that doubts are not from God but from our enemy and that I can’t let any doubts take up space in my brain. I say to myself, “No doubts allowed!”
I would love to win a copy of The Confident Heart. I struggle with letting my teens go because my brother died in a car crash when we were teens. Also my daughter is struggling with anxiety and depression. This book would be awesome for us!
I just read this and it is the end of my day. Just today as I was going to the doctor, I realized that I am a fearful person. Never thought of my self that way before. I have white coat syndrome and I pray about it but had not really thought about being fearful. Need to be praying about it differently calling it what it really is. Thanks.
Thank you so much for your honesty about your fears. I have struggled with fear and could completely relate to your story. I felt like they could have been my words and my story! It touched my heart that God would use your experience to speak to me. I have been praying and thinking about the verse from Isaiah today. What a wonderful promise! I know that I need to trust God completely and believe that He truly is good!