Great love casts out great fear.

I am open to love.

I let go of fear.

Great Love casts out great fear.

My entire life, fear has been a familiar friend and so many of the things I have failed to have been because of fear.  I am afraid I am too fat.  I am afraid I am too stupid.  I am afraid I am inadequate.  I am afraid of failure.  I am afraid of success.

Lately, I have been so excited about spending my summer away–what a daring adventure!  But yesterday, fear swept over me and I wept.

I am scared.

I’ve been darting around it for awhile now, with my silly little jokes and my famous line of, “I might die.”

But I am scared.

And last night, fear was all I could feel.  It was all I could think about.  It choked me out and paralyzed me and as I laid there helpless, one line came blitzing through my head on repeat.  It was sharp and it was weighted and it would not stop.

I can’t do this.  I can’t do this.  I can’t do this.  I can’t do this.

But soon another thought came cutting through the stream of it with equal precision.

GREAT LOVE CASTS OUT GREAT FEAR.

I have been thinking that the opposite of fear is bravery.  I have tried to combat my fear with trying to convince myself I am brave.  But I know: the opposite of fear is love.  I do not have to force myself to be brave; I do not have to pretend like I am brave when in all reality I am quaking in my boots.

Here is the truth:

I am loved.  I am loved.  I am loved.  I am loved.  I am loved. 

No matter what happens this summer, I am loved. 

And if we’re honest, that’s all we want to know, right?  We want to know we are irrevocably loved and cared for.  We want to know that what we do or fail to do holds no sway over our worth and esteem.  We are scared not of failure or success or being too fat; we are so afraid of finding out we actually have the power to ruin good and lovely things.  We are afraid of losing value; we are afraid of losing love. 

But our fears are quietly laid to rest when we encounter truth.

I am loved.  I am loved.  I am loved.  I am loved.

And hallelujah, nothing will change it. 

Because his love for us is not dependent on what we look like, how good we are, or how people respond to us.  We are loved, we are loved, we are loved.  Hallelujah, we are loved.

Great love casts out great fear.

We are loved, we are loved, we are loved.

And the more we rest in that fact, the more we let it infiltrate our lives, the less power fear has over us.  Because we are no longer holding onto the lie that what we do can change his love for us, we are free to live in love.

I am afraid when my world starts to shake; but hallelujah my God’s love is unshakable.

I am afraid when my life starts to change; but hallelujah, my God’s love is unchangeable.

I am afraid when my behavior is messy; but hallelujah, my God’s love is unconditional.

I am afraid when I am inadequate; but hallelujah, my God’s love never lacks.

I am afraid when I am waiting; but hallelujah, my God’s love never tarries.

I am afraid when I am alone; but hallelujah, my God’s love never flees.

Oh this wild and daring love.  This love that makes me free.  This love that makes me known, this love that makes me safe.  This love that casts out fear.  This love that is kind, this love that is patient.  This reckless love that never fails—

Lean in it, rest in it, move in it.  Run in it, play in it.  Jump in it, cry in it.

We are loved, we are loved, we are loved.

And hallelujah, we are free.