No Fear

March 28, 2013

The sun is shining so brightly that I almost need sunglasses inside the cottage!  It's days like this that I wake up excited about getting dressed, eating a good breakfast, and going about my business of making this day count!

 I was thinking this morning about fear and how attitude about fear affects our lives.  When I was a small child, I had no fear.  I ran out into the world thinking that it was my playground ... a place to explore, experience, and enjoy.  I hated being cooped up or told I couldn't do something.  From the first sign of Spring until that first snowfall of Winter, I was on the move.  My poor mother had a tough time with me.  I was her precocious busy child.  I woke up in the morning asking "Why?" and closed my eyes at night still babbling about my day.  I exhausted her and tried her patience.

God doesn't make mistakes.  He knew where I needed to be to grow up ~~ a small town where I was able to spread my wings.  Everyone looked out for everyone else.  Doors were rarely locked and the job of a policeman was pretty hum drum.   Every time I managed to escape into my surroundings the phone would ring and my whereabouts would be reported to my mother.  I'll bet she was glad when I reached school age and really able to fend for myself.  Until then ... well, let's just say that Miss Dottie the explorer would be a proper name!

Fast forward to my young adult years:

I was afraid of everything and fear ran my life.  My fearfulness led to insecurities.  I stood in the shadow of my husband ~~ a quiet subservient wife.  When we were divorced, panic struck.  I learned very quickly how much I had been sheltered.  Quaking in my boots, I entered the job force asking God for guidance.  As He paved the way for me, I began to believe that He truly would do what was best for me at the right time.  Looking back, I am amazed at the doors He opened for me my entire working career.

First John 4:16 points out that we should be conscious of God's love.  Personally, I needed to experience it daily as I battled fear.  I began to keep a journal of my life recording all the ways God protected and provided for me and for my family.  Journaling helped me become more conscious of His love, and I began to heal.

If you are bound in chains because of fear,  Hebrews 13:5-6 says you can trust God to come to your rescue.  If you need financial support, He'll provide.  If it's physical support, He'll sustain you.  If you need emotional support, He'll comfort you.  He'll nourish you and bring you to a place of strength.  I know it's true ... I've lived and experienced His promises!

Remember, God is for you.  Satan is against you, but the greater One lives in you and you can take that to the bank.  If you live in fear, I encourage you to say (out loud) several times a day with confidence, "God loves me and if he brings me to it, He'll bring me through it."  Personally, I wrote that on my bathroom mirror to remind me.

Romans 8:38-39 tells us:  "For I am persuaded beyond doubt that neither death nor life, no angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

As long as we refuse to let anything separate us from God's love, protection, strength, and provision, we will have the victory over fear.

Always remember you are loved and prayed for ... YA YOU!!

Miss Dottie

PS  "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  You must do the thing which you think you cannot do." ~~Eleanor Roosevelt