The Way To Overcome Fear
- Justin Ray
- Feb 10, 2023
- 3 min read
I John 4:17-19
In 2001, Jesse Arbogast was attacked by a shark near Pensacola, Florida. The eight year old boy was at the beach with his uncle, aunt, and cousins. Suddenly one of his cousins yelled "shark", which brought the uncle running. Upon arrival, the uncle saw that the water was red with blood. Then he saw the shark had his nephew. The uncle grabbed the seven foot shark by the tail and wrestled him out of the water. Jesse's aunt pulled him out of the water. Jesse stopped breathing from being in shock because the shark had severed his arm. EMS was called, and he was flown to the hospital where his arm was reattached, and the long road to recovery began. Though afraid of the shark, there was one thing that motivated Jesse's uncle to fight the shark, love.
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.
I John 4:17-19
When we love God, we will love others. John tells us that this will help us to stand boldly (though not proudly) in the day of judgement because we have nothing to be ashamed of. This is because we would have lived a life that was God honoring. No one need ever fear a righteous judge if they have followed the instructions they were given.
How do we do that though? Sometimes God asks us to do things that makes us feel afraid, or at least apprehensive. John tells us that we overcome that fear by love. Just like the uncle in the introduction, love motivates us to face fear. I'm not saying that the fear is not legitimate, but we stand strong and obey our instructions because of our love for God and our love for others.
John also tells us that fear torments us. Probably all of us can remember a time when we were afraid during the night and ran to our mom or dad while they were asleep. We were afraid, and it tormented us. There was nothing that would comfort us except the loving arms of our mother or father. When we love God, He will wrap His arms of love around us and comfort us so that we can face our fear. We will feel His presence and His peace.
John ends by telling us that we love Him because He first loved us. Our capacity to love God is only possible because He loved us first. This is first seen because we are made in God's image, and He gave us the ability to love. He created us that way. Then, as we love God more, He increases our capacity to love. It is an ongoing process. The more we love Him, the less we will fear the things of this world around us.
Father, thank You for giving us the ability to love. Thank You for loving us. There is such a peace from being loved. Help us to love others even when we fear the outcome. May our love be stronger than our fear.
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