Fear is the belief that you will find yourself someplace where God is not—that you can do something that will take you to a place that is apart from God. You are not that powerful.

Your actions—good, bad, or indifferent—are no surprise to God.

God promised to never leave you or abandon you, and He made this promise far in advance of you entering life’s stage, with full knowledge of your faults, foibles, and failures. Considering all your propensities, in conjunction with His heart’s desire, He declared numerous times, “Do not be afraid. I am with you.”

In the book, “No Mercy,” the main character (Hank) contends against fear. At one point he is talking with his brother, Vassar, who is representative of Jesus Christ. Hank is skeptical, finding it difficult to believe he should not be abandoned, and says, “Alright. What’s your promise, Vassar?”

“Hank, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not—I cannot—in any degree leave you helpless, nor alone, nor let you down, nor relax my hold on you. You’re my brother, my family” (ref).

Their exchange continues: Hank studied his brother. “You know, you didn’t leave yourself much room to mess up, Vassar.” “No, I didn’t, did I?”

“Look, Vassar. You don’t need to do this. It’s not worth it.”

“You mean, you’re not worth it,” Vassar corrected.

And there is the point of fear for Hank: He feared he was not worth Vassar staying with him, loving him, caring for him, and vowing allegiance to him.

Your heart, like Hank’s, was not designed to fear. Your heart desires to live courageously with the confident conviction that God is never far away. Rather, that He is in you, as close as your own heart.

Here is a link to Hank’s story. Sometimes it is immeasurably helpful to see how someone else gets down the road of life.