1 Chronicles 14

"Perfect love casts out fear." (1 Jn 4:18) This is so true. It was in distrusting God (who is perfect Love) in the Garden of Eden that led to the first human beings feeling fear. And the more we come to know God and trust in Him again, the further we will be separated from fear. We see a premium example of that in this chapter of 1 Chronicles:

"When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went out to meet them... So David and his men went up to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them." (vs 8, 11)

At the time, the Philistines were the most-feared people in the land. They were giants, and ruthless giants at that. But David trusted the Lord. God had saved him many times from the hand of Saul, and David had come to know and understand that his life was in God’s hands. So, when he heard that the Philistines were coming for him, he didn’t run away. Instead, he ran to them.

This can also be our experience, and I think God would like for it to be our experience. We live in a world that can be very scary—and just to let you know, it’s only going to get worse. I think there are some pretty awful, chaotic times ahead for the inhabitants of Planet Earth. And that’s why God wants us to get to know Him now just as David did. He wants us to understand that our lives are in His hands, and that no matter what happens to us, nobody can ultimately snatch us away from Him.

The more we immerse ourselves in God’s perfect love for us, the less afraid we will be of the things that happen in this world. We may be assailed by enemies on all sides. We may be threatened. We may be tormented. But if we know the God of Love, and if we trust Him, we will run to our enemies, not away from them. We don’t have to be scared of them. Instead, we can be emboldened to stand up to them in the name of the Living God.

God knows what He’s doing, and His perfect love is holding you right now. Today, this moment, you can be fearless!