Do you know what is commanded most often in the Bible? Is it “do not sin” or “be holy” or “do good to others”? None of those. Overwhelmingly, what is commanded most in the Bible by God, angels, or Jesus, is “Do not fear.” Don’t be afraid. Fear not! Such a simple command, yet it’s repetition throughout Scripture is probably a signal that we have a hard time obeying this one.

There isn’t a person in the world who hasn’t been fearful. I don’t mean “phobias,” like afraid of bugs or heights. We’ll leave that to the show Fear Factor. I mean the scenarios that run through your mind. What if this, what if that? All the “what ifs” – it’s like IF is an acronym for I Fear.

Can you imagine breaking free of all your fears? In order to break free, first we have to face our fears. Esther was faced with a difficult decision. She needed to approach the king in hopes he would save her people. Even though Esther was the queen, she hadn’t been summoned to see the king in a month! If she approached him and he didn’t want to see her, she would be killed. Faced with this choice, Esther said “If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). If I die, I die.

Think of your greatest fear. What if it happened? Most of our fears are pretty irrational. It is unlikely they will happen. But it’s not enough to have conditional faith that God won’t let our fears happen. Let’s think through a situation. One of my fears is that my husband Jeff would die suddenly.

What if Jeff dies?
I’d be devastated.
Then what?
I’d cry a lot. I’d go through more Kleenex than you can buy at Costco. I wouldn’t want to get out of bed in the mornings.
Then what?
I’d probably read the Bible a lot because I don’t know how I’d get through it without God.
Then what?
Eventually I’d begin healing and find ways to go on with life. I’d probably end up sharing the journey with others and helping people in similar situations.

Of course I still don’t want it to happen, but when you think through it step by step it’s not that scary. If God allows what we fear to happen then He has reason and purpose in it. It takes courage to face our fears. We have a choice to take courage and surrender our fears. If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you have died to fear and are alive to Christ. (Romans 6)

If you haven’t accepted Jesus as your Savior, consider it now. Jesus is the Son of God and He came to earth, lived a perfect sin-less life, and died on a cross taking the punishment for our sin. Three days later Jesus rose from the grave. He conquered sin and death once and for all, so that all who choose to believe in Him and make Him their Savior, won’t be subject to sin and death. Ask Jesus to forgive you for the sin in your life and tell Him you want to live for Him. Now when God looks at you, He doesn’t see the sin in your life, He sees the perfect blood of Jesus paying for your sin. The Bible says if you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved. You will live forever in heaven with the One who loves you so much He gave His life for you. If you’ve just made this decision, tell someone. I’d love to hear from you and help you as you begin this journey of faith.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Most of these words are my own, but the concepts come from Beth Moore’s Bible study Esther.