There is no fear in love, dread does not exist, but full-grown, complete, perfect love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and so he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love, is not yet grown into love’s complete perfection. 1 John 4:18
Out of all the demons and devices that the enemy uses FEAR is one of the most devastating. If evil is the opposite of good, then fear is the opposite of love because the two can not exist in the same space.
No fear in love
So many places in the Bible you see how trust and love of God cast away fear. The first 5 words of this verse sum it all up, there is NO fear in love. And it goes on to say that not only does it not exist but PERFECT LOVE turns away fear and expels every trace of it.
Do not get me wrong, fear is a strong opponent and knows the weakness of our flesh and our vulnerability. It is easy to feel fear on every level. But do we have to feel it? Why do we feel it? Are we looking at the situation through full-grown, complete, perfect love? Full-grown love is complete surrender to God’s will, and trusting Him for your life. Once worry gains a foothold, fear busts the door wide open. All because we set perfect love aside.
Please understand one thing, I battle anxiety constantly. I could turn worrying into a professional sport I am that good at it now. I have this amazing dreamland in my head where I can take a situation run every possible scenario, even a few completely impossible ones so that I have made myself so full of dread. The images then terrorize me.
Fear is a liar!
We know fear is a liar and this verse explains the crippling power of its attack. The thought of punishment. We classify everything into something that is good or something that is bad. We see things like sickness, job loss, financial crisis, death, suffering, endings, etc. as bad things and then we attribute them into the category of punishment, that we must have done something to deserve this evil to come into our lives. But what if God had another plan for it?
Joseph’s journey.
Full-grown love sees something else. Full-grown love sees eternity and the glory of God. Joseph at every step of his journey could have let fear consume him. God inspires him with a vision and in his youthful arrogance, he boasts about it. We get like that, I have! God is using us or going to use us and we get so excited that we don’t see we are lacking maturity. Then hell sends out the jealousy demons to whisper in ears around us. Soon we have a bunch of people mad at us, plotting against us and scheming how to get rid of us.
They sell us into slavery. False accusations send us to prison. We lie forgotten in prison. Until one day, in God’s appointed time, the moment for redemption comes. Suddenly you are in a position that will be the salvation of the very people that threw you in the pit. The vision God had given you, that if fear had been allowed to destroy, is now unveiling before your eyes. That moment where you say “you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good.” (Genesis 50:20)
Full-grown love.
Full-grown love doesn’t look at the storm or the circumstances but knows that ‘all things work together for good’ and that if we just trust God there is only love and no room for fear.
The record of Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane serves as an example. Jesus had been with God at the foundation of everything, He knew the outcome and the final victory, so why share this with us other than to give us the example.
Saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but always Yours be done. Luke 22:42
He understands that sometimes we stand of the edge (or middle) of situations with fear knocking on the door unsure of how any part of this can work out. But Love’s Complete Perfection is taking the cup because it is God’s will and His will surpasses ours.
Salvation for all was in Christ’s cup. So many have been handed cups too heavy for most to bear. But in those moments God’s perfect love cast out fear and God’s perfect will was followed. Yes, for some there was no fairytale happy ending in this life but an eternal reward awaited them beyond all earthly understanding. When love was allowed control of the situation, fear was cast away.
You are loved!
Fear will do nothing but destroy. Two years ago today I received a phone call that someone very precious to me had allowed fear to persuade them to make a decision to end their life. Fear had held him captive with false thoughts and lies. If we stray away from our Shepherd for any amount of time we will become prey for these lies. When we stay close to our Savior His light will always shine into the lies Fear throws at us. God’s perfect love for us will remove all traces of terror from our minds.
