Spirit & Truth # 245
“Casting Out Fear”
By Greg Smith
When I was a small child growing up
in the Henrico suburbs, I played all over our neighborhood. Times were different then, and my parents let
me roam from one neighbor’s house to another in a safe pack of kids that looked
out for one another. We played in each
other’s yards and club houses. We swung
on swing sets and used the entire neighborhood for our epic games of war
games. We played everywhere—except for
the one place I refused to play. I was
afraid to go in my side yard.
In my small side yard there was a
dark area, shaded by our next door neighbor’s fence and an overhanging tree on
one side, and by our house on the other side.
Ivy grew on the tree and ran up the side of the house, hanging in creepy
tatters that sparked my young imagination.
Whenever a squirrel or other small animal would scurry through the
undergrowth, I envisioned all sorts of frightening things making those
noises. I was convinced that a witch
lived in that dark corner of my yard, and my fear kept me from playing anywhere
near there.
Now that I’ve grown up, I’m no
longer afraid of witches and monsters.
But I have to admit that there are still some dark corners in my life
that fill me with fear. Perhaps you have
some things that scare you, too. Recent
political unrest and trouble on Wall Street have got people fearing for the
future. With fear fueled on the one hand
by corporate giants and on the other hand by activist groups like Anonymous
(whose tag line, by the way, is the same as the demoniac, “We are legion, for
we are many”)[i], many Americans
dread the worst. One of my neighbors is
planning what to do when civilization as we know it crumbles within the next
few weeks.
Perhaps your dark corners aren’t
political or economic. Maybe you fear
the dissolution of that relationship that has been so strained in recent
months. Or it could be that the doctor’s
report has left you despairing for the future.
Possibly, your children are about to make life decisions that you think
would end in disaster. Whatever the dark
places in your yard, God wants to shine His light.
2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV) says, “For God
has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound
mind.” 1 John 4:18 (NKJV) tells us, “There is no fear in love; but
perfect love casts out fear.”
How do we combat the fear that threatens the peace that God wants to put
in our hearts? Seek the perfect love of
God. 1 John 4:8b-10 says, “God is love.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the
world that we might live through him. This
is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an
atoning sacrifice for our sins.” Only
through the perfect love of Jesus can your fear, like a demon, be cast into the
outer darkness. Receive His love
today. Let Him cast out your fear. Let Him set you free.
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