My husband and I chuckle when we hear our boys declaring into their bedrooms after dark, "Fear, you're a liar! God loves me!" They know how to take down the boogeyman bully with the boldness of Christ.
This came about after we needed some happy thoughts when my son had a nightmare that continually upset him. How do we reassure him that he's safe when life, in fact, is full of death, suffering, and tragedy?
Because of what we know.
And what God's kids know is this:
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38.
I used to pray and pray and pray for God to take away coursing anxieties and fears. As I began to learn more about the armor of God in Ephesians 6, I realized I was given a full armor by God to fight it through him. I hadn't been sharpening my sword by spending time reading God's promises. I had kept it in its sheath where it had gotten rusty. My shield of faith was on the floor when I was begging God to do something that he equipped me to do. He told me to pick it up.
Those who redeemed by the completed work of Christ and the cross can tell fear to take a long walk off a short pier. We have that power. The flaming arrows of the enemy will forever fly to try and hinder us. This is why Paul tells us to fight the good fight of faith. Faith isn't a feeling. It's a fight.
And the Joy of the Lord is our strength in the battle. Nothing and no one can touch the soul of one who believes that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Part of our protection of peace comes through obedience to God's word. God's instructions for us in the Bible, are not burdensome! They free us. The law is so that our joy may be full. Our fallen, sinful nature binds us into worshipping earthly things. Idolatry. How could we not be slaves to fear when our hope is in things that are fleeting? We can be enslaved by things that feel good, like approval from people, health, vanity, and security, earning money or status. Oswald Chambers said that the Holy Spirit helps discern, not between good and evil, but between good and best. Sometimes, the chains that are the last to break are the ones that look and feel good, but they actually are reading havoc on the peace in our spirit -- our inheritance from Christ. But the truth always sets us free, through the blessed Holy Spirit and the Word of God -- our Sword!
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Romans 8:14-15