“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” -Deuteronomy 31:6

You are a child fearing the consequences of accidentally breaking one of your grandmother’s figurines. You are a teenager afraid of your teacher’s phone call home about your bad behavior and failing grades. You are the scared adult trying to figure out how you’re going to pay the car payment after being out of work for at least a month. You are the grandparent fearing you won’t see your grandchild’s graduation or wedding day.

Those are just a few of the fears we have as we go through life. We never really know what the next day will bring. We have our hopes; but along with them come the fear that they won’t be reached. It’s an epidemic in all our lives that we can’t escape from. There is no vaccine to prevent it; but there is an antidote. We just happen to overlook it a lot of the time. What is the antidote? God. He tells us many times in His Word that we should not be afraid. “Should” being a key term. He recognizes that we will have our moments when we are. It is only natural, and that is why He makes so many attempts to comfort us.

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” -Psalm 27:1

What do you fear, really? Usually we can make a whole list of things, and even add a cause and effect that extends to many other fears all resulting in one thing. That one thing generally being death. Why are you afraid that you can’t pay the bills? Because you’d lose everything. If you lost everything you could potentially starve or get extremely ill and have no means to get better. If you don’t get better or do starve then you die.

We need to be confident. Fear shouldn’t be the word that drives us or outlines our day.. When you are afraid pray that peace be settled over our hearts. Often times we just get lost when we’re afraid. We become paralyzed or completely unfocused when in the midst of one of our biggest fears, or a fear that has caught us off guard. Like when you get a phone call that your child has had an accident at school and was sent to the hospital. You get so worried that you can’t find your keys. Finally you’ll realize they’re right in front of you.

God is our stronghold and peace in times when you are afraid. Life is compass whose direction is always changing. We can’t know what tomorrow brings, but we can pray for that sense of peace that will keep us from fearing tomorrow and give us the excitement and drive we need to make it a good day!