"Do Not Be Afraid"

It's so funny the thoughts God will give me and essentially prompt me with, espcially when I first wake up in the mornings! I love it though, and I pray He'll forever do that with me! I'm sure you're reading this and wondering where is this going- well, you know I got a story to share friend!

I've realized God will put me through the test in what I'm about to either write or talk about. How can I talk about it if He doesn't give me the test for the testimony, right? Well, God made me aware that I was unknowingly still holding onto a fear, a fear that affects the way I love, the way I let people in, the way I let my past protect me in ways it doesn't need to. I've been praying to God for my future husband, yet I've let my fear keep me safe and comfortable with not having met him or him finding me yet. You see, I love people, and I love you HARD. Yet, if I am to be completely transparent or vulnerable with you reading this, it scares me to love; that's a risk, that's a chance of me loving you hard and losing you. I pray to meet the man I'm meant to be with and start our forever together, yet deep down I've been okay with it cause then I'm "safe" from being hurt, "safe" from losing another person I love.

This phrase came to my mind this morning, and I was thinking of how this phrase is the most repeated phrase in the Bible. "Do NOT be afraid". Sometimes, in some scenarios, that's a lot easier said than done, isn't it? Yet, I was writing in my journal with God that I think of how calm God is, of how He's full of peace. Now, it's easy here to say that God is like that cause "He knows it all". Granted, God does know everything. Yet, God's my Heavenly Father. I'm not blessed to be a mom yet, but I'm sure for the parents out there, they feel what their child/children feel. When children are grieving, I'm sure their parents grieve with them. When they're sad, angry, hurt, happy, excited, any emotion, I have a feeling typically the parent share in the emotion(s) with them. God's the same way; He hears our cries, He sees the tears flowing down our face, He can sense the fear we are experiencing.

You know what I realized this 'simple' yet beautiful phrase does? Affirms and confirms. This phrase, that's repeated throughout the whole Bible, affirms and confirms God's Word and God's Promises. God tells us to do not be afraid because "I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11. God tells us not to be afraid because "For I (God) have not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and of a sound mind" 2 Timothy 1:7. God tells us do NOT be afraid because "The smallest will become an army of a thousad, and the least will become a powerful nation. I am the Lord; When the time is right, I will do it quickly" Isaiah 60:22. We don't need to be afraid because "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” Exodus 14:14.

There's a list of fears out there. There's a whole bunch of reasons why we could be afraid. Satan aims to give us a new fear everyday. He aims to keep us in the past and in our fears. If we choose to let that happen, there's so many beautiful things we could miss out on. The what if's could hurt us when it's fear based, AND YET, if we ask the what if's based on faith, imagine how much God can blow our imaginations, minds, and expectations. Imagine how much God can do with that mustard-seed faith. Now, that fear won't go away in simply one day, but we get to choose every single day to trust God again and to not be afraid. ❤️