We all experience fear in one way or another. Perhaps you wake in the early hours of the morning remembering that you have a pile of bills waiting to be paid and an empty bank account. Or maybe you don’t sleep much at all because every noise you hear reminds you of the time your home was broken into. Sometimes we fear what is to come – an illness, the death of a loved one, being alone. There is also a different kind of fear to consider: many of us live with the nagging worry that if people really knew us, they would be disappointed.

Fear blinds us to the character of our kind, loving and all powerful Father and Lord, which is why the psalmist states in Psalm 27 that all he asks is that he seek after the Lord, dwell in His place, gaze upon His beauty and inquire in His temple. What the psalmist wanted most, in the midst of the fear-inducing turmoil he was facing, was to be near to God and to know Him. He wanted this more than he wanted his problems to be solved. 

When we are feeling as if we are overwhelmed by the darkness that fear brings, we should ask ourselves what our heart is desiring. Are we longing for a glimpse of our Saviour, or are we desperately trying to find solutions to the problems we are facing? When our gaze is stolen away from the only One who can save us, our heart and mind become vulnerable and can be overwhelmed by fear. God alone is our light, salvation and stronghold. When our eyes are fixed on Him, we can’t help but marvel at who He is and we are able to stand on the firm foundation His love and grace provides, even while the storm rages around us. 

Prayer: 

Lord, 

You have said, “Seek my face.”

My heart says to you “Your face, Lord, do I seek. Hide not your face from me”.

Help me long to know You more, especially when I face fear. I know that when my eyes are fixed on You, I am reminded of Your great love and power, and I rest in the knowledge that You care for me as Your own child. Thank you that You are my light, my salvation and my stronghold because of the sacrifice Jesus made when He died on the cross for my sin. I know that nothing can separate me from Your love.

An excerpt from Rewriting Fear from Bryanston Bible Church