“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." I John 4:18
For as long as I can remember, darkness bred fear in my heart. Shadows of unknown objects, eerie sounds, and foreboding thoughts produced countless sleepless nights. As a little girl, I refused to sleep with stuffed bears, convinced they would come alive when the lights went off.
One night, when my oldest son was thirteen, I decided to leave my fear of bears and become the "Mama Bear" for my children. I felt overconfident about facing my fear of darkness because I had overcome fear before.
I turned off the lights and pulled the sheets up to my neck. Immediately, fear wrapped around me like a python squeezing its prey. I froze and gasped for breath. What is wrong with me? You are forty-three years old. Lack of light doesn’t mean evil is present. John 1:5 says darkness cannot overcome light.
My self-talk didn’t shake one ounce of fear from my heart. I pulled the sheets over my head and tried to console myself again. I locked the doors. No one can come inside. Nothing is going to happen to me. Deuteronomy 31:8 says God will never fail me nor forsake me. I am safe.
Still, panic choked my heart.
Suddenly, the Holy Spirit reminded me of a night when fear of finances crippled me. Darkness threatened to extinguish my courage, but the light switch wasn't the cause. All the unpaid bills, including missed rent payments, consumed my mind. My financial status suffocated any glimmer of hope in my heart.
While desperate tears soaked my pillow, the Holy Spirit dropped words of life into the fertile ground of my spirit. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. (I John 4:18)”
Reminding myself to come to my heavenly Father like an infant, I whispered in the night.
Father God, I don’t know how to encounter a father’s love without feeling fear. Unveil your perfect love. Reassure me you will protect my heart and life.
As I cried out for help, I felt the sensation of a person holding my hand. I knew it was Jesus. A warm feeling migrated from my hand, up my arm, and toward my heart. As my heart encountered warmth, the Holy Spirit reminded me of Jesus’ words in John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid."
As the presence of God touched my heart and Scripture soaked my mind, my anxiety faded like morning mist. I uncurled my body and breathed deeply, meditating on the new truth revealed to my heart:
God’s perfect love and perfect peace are always available to me.
Every night for the next three nights, I asked Jesus to come and hold my hand. I spoke to the darkness. “I am afraid to raise three children alone. I must know my heavenly bridegroom is beside me and will help me make wise decisions.”
The new reality of God’s nearness squeezed out the old reality of human abandonment. Even though my financial situation hadn't stabilized, I slept peacefully for the rest of the week. By Monday, my heart and mind were fully relaxed.
Now, months later, my mind began to recall that precious night with Jesus.
I closed my eyes and imagined my heavenly Father holding me safe and secure in His blanket of love. Instantly, my heart realigned with the truth in my spirit. My heart rate lowered, and my muscles relaxed. I entered a deep sleep and slept the entire night in total darkness.
After facing these battles with fear, I understood more about the key to removing fear from my heart.
Fear must leave our hearts as we come into a supernatural understanding of an eternal, ever-present God.
We experience perfect peace when our hearts embrace perfect love.
The love that took Jesus to the cross gives me a powerful light to overcome all darkness in my life. God's eternal love holds my heart steady in a shaking world.
Psalm 25:21 says, “Your perfection and faithfulness are my bodyguards, for you are my hope, and I trust in you as my only protection.
When God visits our natural lives in supernatural ways, our hearts become grounded in God’s eternal love. The felt presence of God communicates the nearness of God to our hearts. What place could be safer for our hearts than the presence of God?
When Jesus held my hand, He helped me internalize His words in John 16:33 (NASB). “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world.”
I felt overwhelmed when fear, an unwelcome visitor, came knocking on the door of my heart because I had forgotten the healing my heart received from Jesus months earlier. As my heart was recalibrated, I returned to peace.
How compassionate of the Holy Spirit to redirect my heart instead of condemning me. He could have said, “Why are you afraid? Pull yourself together. You have nothing to be afraid of.” But He didn’t.
My inner critic directed my focus to me and my lack of faith and courage. The Holy Spirit shifted my focus to Jesus and the abundant faith and courage He gives.
Isaiah 41:10 reads, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with MY victorious right hand.”
We don’t defeat fear by trying to gain courage by our own strength. Fear has a spiritual root. When I felt fear, the Holy Spirit reminded me to focus on the living person behind the living words of God.
When Scripture becomes breath on our hearts, instead of words on a page, we experience perfect peace.
As our hearts receive a divine revelation of perfect love, we begin to comprehend the truth our minds know. Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). He is the physical representation of our heavenly Father’s perfect love.
Before Jesus unlocked fear in my heart, I encountered lockdown. No other part of my life could function because fear misplaced the key to my heart. When Jesus freed my heart with His perfect love, I found a new way of sleeping and living.
Jesus is the only one who holds the key to unlock the prison doors in our hearts because He holds the key to perfect love.
Our hearts and lives are safe with Him by our side. As He holds our hand through the darkest night, we experience perfect peace.
I bless you today to encounter perfect love and perfect peace.
Affirmative Statement
My heavenly Father created me to encounter His peaceful loving presence. Jesus, the embodiment of perfect love, holds the key to set my heart free from fear.
Prayer
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your perfect love. Tune every part of my heart and body to your love frequencies. Plant your words of life in my heart. I desire to grow in my understanding of you. Teach me to rest peacefully in your perfect love.
Amen
Song for Reflection
"None But Jesus" by Hillsong United
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