My second son, Andrew, drove an old jeep in high school that was always giving us trouble. So, I was always trying to fix something on it. One Saturday I was under the jeep when the phone rang. My third son answered and brought it to me. It was a church member at her neighbor’s house. The neighbor was in trouble . Hallucinating. Filled with fear. I can’t go into it, but the situation was serious. She wanted to know if I would come.
I was up to my armpits in grease thinking, “Man, its Saturday.” But I went. Andrew said, “Dad would you like me to go with you?” Sure. C’mon. So we drove out to the house and found the lady in terrible shape. She was overcome with fear. She lived out in the woods in a home that wasn’t all that secure. Her husband was working out of the country. Her father died when he was only 42, then her mother died at 42, then her brother died at 42. Guess how old she was? 42. She was so fearful that she hadn’t eaten or slept in four full days. Now she was starting to hallucinate.
I listened to her story and knew that the answer to her fear was love.
Perfect love casts out fear.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.
I’ve always thought that was odd. Courage should be the answer to fear, not love. But love is what gives us courage. When you know you are loved and accepted you have confidence. When you become convinced that God loves you and has a plan for your life then you don’t have to fear what might be coming against you.
Listen to what David said in Psalm 27.
Psalm 27:1 (A Psalm of David) The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?
So I told her that God loved her and that he had a plan for her life. His purpose was for her to know him and love him back. We talked about how sin ruins our lives and destroys the relationship with God. Then I told her that God loved her just as she was and that he’d sent his son Jesus to die on the cross in her place. When we place our faith in the work of Jesus our sins are forgiven and we are made new. No more fear.
She said she would like to do that, so she prayed. And the fear left her. Sunday she was at church. I asked her, “Are you sleeping? Any more hallucinations?” She said, “I’ve slept like a baby ever since I trusted God.”
What a difference. God’s love will cast out your fear.
Bill Dye Ministries 