There’s a jar of chocolate candy on my bookshelf at work. The candy in the jar changes from time to time – it may be Hershey Kisses (I’m partial to the ones with cherry cordial flavored filling), Riesens (they don’t last long either), or dark chocolate (justified as “health food.”). But it’s always chocolate, and it’s always there for anyone having a chocolate attack, brought on by stress, a mid-afternoon sleepy spell, or just a powerful craving.
A perennial favorite in the jar is Dove chocolate. And, in addition to some of the best chocolate on the planet, you also get a “promise” inside the wrapper, sort of like a fortune cookie. Some of them are pretty silly, like, “Remember your first everything,” or, “Wink at someone driving by,” or, “Go to your special place,” whatever that means. But awhile back I got one I stuck up on my wall with a thumbtack: “Be fearless.”
It just struck a chord in me, resonating in my soul, unlike those ridiculous “No Fear” bumper stickers. Anyone with any sense knows it’s just insane not to have ANY fear. There are plenty of things a reasonable person would be afraid of. For instance, there are little things, like spiders, snakes, heights, crowds, darkness, flying (especially on 9/11), getting mugged in a big city… Actually, I suppose these things seem pretty big if they strike fear into your heart. But they’re small in comparison to some other things we fear: Losing friends or family to death, our children becoming ensnared by the world, being laid off from our jobs, disease, terrorism, failure, and our own inevitable mortality, just to name a few.
And countless times in the Bible we’re told that a good, healthy fear (i.e., respect) of the Lord is a good thing. But to “be fearless” … that’s another thing altogether. It’s something to reach for, and also Biblical:
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” ~ 2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV)
Knowing this basic truth about my spirit is a great encouragement to me, because if I were to just go by my feelings, I’d say I’m a wimp. I detest confrontation, and have spent a lot of my life avoiding it when it would have been so much wiser to just face it head-on. But experience comes with age, and God is teaching me when and how to be bold. I’ve also dealt with many of the fears I named, and by His grace I’ve overcome some of them.
I’m still a work in progress, and I doubt I’ll ever care much for snakes. But that doesn’t mean I’m not striving to “be fearless.” After all, 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…” and I’m trusting in His perfect love for me. So what do I really have to be afraid of?
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