Facing Fears

THE FACING FEARS ORIGIN STORY

This Facing Fears picture is a project of love for me. Last year, when my son Jack turned 8 years old I made him a surreal photograph for his birthday titled “Set Apart for the Gospel“. I wanted to create something that would be eye-catching but more so, that would leave a long-lasting visual for Jack to look upon years later and know that he has a purpose in this life. Enthralled by the idea, I decided to do the same thing for all the other kids in the family when their birthdays came about. Almost a year later, I have created this Facing Fears surreal photograph, which is the final picture in the series. This picture is for my nephew who is turning ten this February. I am very blessed in my life by him and hope that this picture will be a blessing for him.

WHAT DOES THE WORD SAY ABOUT FACING FEARS?

As I was pondering the Facing Fears picture, I wondered what the Bible said about overcoming fear. After all, we are called to be overcomers in Jesus. I started wondering what verse from the Bible would greatly depict the concept of overcoming fear. My heart immediately went to the words written in 1 John 4:18. I went back and studied that section of the Bible. I knew immediately that the Bible Speed Art video should be centered around that verse.

This small section in the book of 1 John so clearly depicts the fact that perfect love drives out fear. The question came however: What is “perfect” love? Does the word perfect mean “without mistakes” like so many people might think in this day and age? If that was true, than our sinful nature would keep us away from the this world’s definition of perfect. However, it is not this world that defines us who are in Christ.

The world can say that a human being is gender-neutral, yet God makes it clear from the very beginning of creation that “male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27). The world says that the sign of the rainbow is for the LGBT community, yet God says different. “I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.” (Genesis 9:13-15).

So, if we are going to listen to the world’s definitions, we would be so far out of the heart and mind of God, it would be heart-breaking. Therefore, in order to know how to drive out fear, I had to first uncover the truth about “perfect love”.

THE ROLE OF PERFECT LOVE IN FACING FEARS

Diving into the Greek for “perfect”, I discovered that the intent of the word was not “to be without mistakes”. However, the intent of the word in the Greek means maturity and completion. Essentially, the word denotes the accomplishment of the goal given. First, I understood that God, who is love, had his perfect love made complete in the man, Jesus Christ. When Jesus was on the cross, he cried out, “It is finished.” (John 19:30).

The word “finished” is the same Greek word as the word “perfect” when talking about perfect love. Therefore we can see the completion of the goal Jesus had on this earth. His 33 years of life led up to that final, perfect moment of completing the physical sacrifice. Physically, the job of the Son of Man, as our unblemished and worthy sacrifice, was complete. If we follow the events that transpired within the following 43 days, we see how the Lord raised from the dead, defeating death and its sting and how he gave proof to many witnesses over a 40 day span before ascending to heaven where he sat down at the right hand of his Father.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ME?

Those events described above are single-handedly the most important events in our lives, whether we want to believe it or not. If we do however, choose to make the Lord Jesus Christ the supreme and only Lord of our lives, that perfect love that defeated sin and death resides within us as well. The full authority of Christ dwells in us through the power of God’s Holy Spirit. The love we receive however isn’t meant to sit stagnant. We were created with a purpose. Paul wrote, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10).

As we can see, the perfect love of Christ in us is purposed for good works that will bring all glory to our Father in heaven. With that said, if we think just saying we believe in Jesus and attending church every week is the purpose we have in Christ, then we should have expected for Jesus to have done the same thing with his time on earth. However, he didn’t use his time to sit around and just talk about how people needed perfect love. No, he was constantly in the will of his Father. Jesus served others. He went out to where the people were, not just invite them to the synagogue. He met the physical needs of the people and then fed them spiritually.

If we claim to be following him, than are we following in his example? Our we living the purpose we have been given? If not, then we need to ask ourselves if we truly believe in Jesus. Does Jesus really reign supreme in my life? Am I wasting the life I’ve been given on my desires or am I truly seeking my destiny and purpose in Christ?

So today, what choice will you make? What will you put into practice in your life? What do you hold as valuable, because that is most likely where you are putting your time, money, thoughts, and resources into. Are you facing fears and living in the perfect love of Jesus? If you have not been seeking the will of God and the purpose you were created for, than Perhaps Today is the day you reframe your heart and mind and begin seeking the truth to why you were born. You were created for such a time as this. Seek that purpose and bring it to completion. Your life will be “perfect”, just as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

HOW TO REFRAME YOUR LIFE

If you would like to talk to someone about how to get help facing fears in life, and reframe the way you view those fears in your life, please don’t hesitate to Contact Perhaps Today for prayer or for someone to talk to. You are not in this life alone. Perhaps today is the day you begin your new journey into overcoming the fears of the world.

If you would like to seek assistance from a Life Coach, we highly recommend Christine Bowen of Reframe My Life. She would love to hear from you and help you in this journey of life. Click here to make contact with Christine Bowen of Reframe My Life.