Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do,
    and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.
Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life.
    He is the one you should fear.
He is the one who should make you tremble.
He will keep you safe.
Isaiah 8:12-14

Read: Numbers 13, Isaiah 8:11-17
Pilgrim’s Progress Stage 3 Part 7

Relate: The year was 1933. Franklin D Roosevelt was at the podium giving his very first presidential address. The challenges this nation faced were great. The country was now more than three years into The Great Depression and there seemed to be no end in sight. In Europe, France was on the verge of Civil War, Britain had over 20% unemployment with regular labor riots, and in men like Mussolini, Stalin, and Hitler were starting to make a name for themselves for all the wrong reasons. This is the backdrop for perhaps one of the most famous lines FDR ever said. Here is the context:

“This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive, and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. We hear this all the time. But FDR wasn’t saying that we should try to avoid being afraid. No. Sometimes being afraid is exactly how we should feel. If we aren’t, then there is probably something seriously wrong in our head. What FDR was warning against was allowing our fear to “paralyze our efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

React: One thing my life has not been is boring. I’ve seen earthquakes and tornadoes, floods and fires, bullets and bombs. Each of these was more than able to get the heart racing. I am no stranger to the limbic system kicking me into fight or flight mode every now and again. There is nothing wrong with this. When the Bible says “do not be afraid”, it isn’t warning against this. It is a warning against allowing our fear to rule us. When your heart is racing, and your mind is gibbering, and the adrenaline is pumping, will you turn and run like Timorous and Mistrust did? Or will you buckle down, put one foot in front of the other, and walk on?

Respond:

Dear God,
Even when I am afraid, help me to not fear. Even when the storms of life are raging around me, let me not forget who is in the boat. You are with me. Let me not forget that You are greater and stronger than any of the circumstances that life might throw my way. Don’t let me run. Don’t let the trials of life hinder my progress on the path You have set for me.
Amen