What does it look like to live fearlessly? A recent series of very difficult events has dismantled the comfortable life I’ve enjoyed for several years. Hard times have happened before—but never like this. God needed to do a hard reset in my life. I had not been paying attention to His direction. He had been telling me to reorder my life. So the rug was ripped out from under my easy chair and I’ve been on the concrete floor, sweating through the workout of my lifetime. At first I was dazed and confused. But now, God is dusting off my armor, working off the flab, making me spiritually fit, and preparing me for my next battle. I’m ever so grateful. I’d hate to be unprepared and become a liability in the spiritual warfare for the lost souls around me.
Twelve years ago if this situation had happened, my children would have probably checked me into a stress center. Twelve years ago I would have quit. Twelve years ago I didn’t have the history with God I have today. He has proven to be my most faithful friend!
The closer we get to God the less we are afraid of change because God isn’t afraid of anything and He never changes!
When we are close to God, we have the power to live fearlessly. How? Well, ask yourself, “What is God afraid of?” Nothing. He is NOT afraid. Ever! Do we fear death, disease, heartbreak, financial disaster, career failure, peer pressure, or loneliness? He fears NONE of these things! I’ve learned that when fear creeps back into my life, it’s because I’ve allowed sin into my house. Recently, it’s been the sin of getting comfortable in the world. It has distanced me from God’s power. It has distracted me from His Divine plan. It’s time to get my fire back.
Evil is sneaky–it isn’t just doing what’s wrong–it’s also NOT doing what’s right—like trusting God or being lazy in spiritual matters.
Sin ALWAYS separates us from a sense of God’s presence. He hates sin—and reasonably so—it cost His Son His life.
If you want to live in fear—live in sin. To live fearlessly, we must be dedicated to spending time with our Holy Father and conform our life to His ways. We often get stuck in thinking that if we are not committing the “big” sins, and we are doing a reasonable amount of good then—we are where we need to be. We get comfortable. As born again believers we were never meant to live comfortably.
We are in a spiritual warfare for the souls of the human race!
We don’t have time to be afraid. But to live fearlessly, we must be dedicated to God—who fears no one! Daniel, who was a slave, spent time with God three times a day. He became a top advisor to a succession of four kings who enslaved him for over 70 years. The other advisors were jealous and wanted to destroy him. They knew he worshiped God and thus, they had King Cyrus sign a law forbidding the worship of God. The penalty for disobeying the law was death by lions. Daniel’s reaction was to pray to God with his window wide open. He refused to cower in fear. He served the God who created everything including the king who threatened his life. The Bible says,
“Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows OPEN toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.”
Daniel 6:10 NKJV
Even though he knew it meant his death, Daniel prayed with the windows OPEN. Daniel knew God so well that the threat of death did not scare him. He knew that his greatest strength was in God’s power. He had already seen God make a powerless slave the king’s chief advisor. My friend, God was much more real to Daniel than a pack of roaring lions!
God doesn’t always deliver us the way WE think He should. His gift of salvation has delivered us from the greatest threat—eternal death. Sometimes we have to get into the den with the lions so that others can see God’s great strength and deliverance. Sometimes we need to see it for ourselves. King Cyrus was so amazed by God’s deliverance, he sent out this decree:
“I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.”
Daniel 6:26-27 NKJV
Daniel went through the lion’s den and had a much more powerful testimony of God’s power than if he had not. He could have told people,”God is powerful,” but because He trusted God, He was able to go through an experience with God which produced a much more powerful testimony of God’s power. Daniel’s relationship with God made him unafraid to trust God even when his life was on the line. We can too!
Living close to God allows us to live fearlessly and powerfully!
“The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.”
Proverbs 28:1 NKJV
When we purify our heart and draw close to our righteous Father—He fights our battles. God will fight your lions—and mine.
When our heart belongs to God—our fear is lost in His strength.
We would love to hear your thoughts about this devotional. Did God speak to you or challenge your daily walk with him? Or is there a topic that you would like Kimberly to cover or expound on? Please share with us in the comments below.
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3 Responses
We must always remember, God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, love and of sound mind .
Amen!