"fear is a liar..."

"When he told you - you’re not worthy,
when he told you - you’re not loved,
when he told you - you’re not beautiful,
that you’ll never be enough;

Fear - is a liar..."

I had never heard of Zach Williams. But after watching the "Fear is a Liar," video -- his music ministry in now on my playlist.

I love the message of this song. It resonates with everything that I have come to trust. Fear is not a condition. It is a simply a proposal, a suggestion, an invitation, a lie. And it is never in you -- or me.

In First John, Chapter 4 we read:

"There is no fear in Love."

But this isn't what we are led to believe.  It is the opposite of the narrative we are sold continuously.  For example, I remember, as a young mother, feeling vulnerable because I loved my daughter so much. I interpreted the fierce feelings I experienced - every time she was out of my sight - as "fear." I thought that I was afraid, because I loved her so much.

One morning, when she was getting ready for preschool, I was almost paralyzed by feelings that I interpreted as fear. I thought that my fear for her safety and well-being, was weakening my ability to pray effectively for her. As she ate her breakfast, I opened my Bible at the kitchen table. It fell open to the above passage from I John. And for the first time it struck me that this was not a suggestion, but a promise.  I only needed to accept it.

I had a choice to make. I either believed that I loved my daughter, or I believed that I was afraid. I couldn't have it both ways. There is no fear in love. So, if I loved her, I was not afraid. Period. Well, there was no question. I absolutely knew that I loved my daughter -- I had not a single shred of doubt about it. So then it followed that I had to absolutely know -- with all my being -- that i was not afraid.

Now that didn't mean that I wasn't experiencing some pretty strong feelings.  I was. But, if those feelings weren't fear, what were they?  I realized that needed to move John's inspired promise, from the inspirational to the practical.

I took the time to be still and ask what those feelings might be - if, in fact, they weren't fear. It came so quickly, that it almost took my breath away. I knew in an instant that those feelings were a fierce love -- ones that made me feel as if I might dissolve. But that dissolution was not a falling apart -- no, it was the falling away of the ego. It was a complete surrender of self-determinism, to the presence and power of God - of Love. It was an on-your-knees submission to grace.

In that moment, fear proved itself to be a liar. It had been insisting that because I was afraid, my daughter was vulnerable. It was saying that because I was afraid, I was a sub-standard mom. It was hissing that because I was feeling afraid, it actually meant something -- and that something, was not good. But I was not afraid, I loved her -- and I loved her fiercely.

Fear is a liar. It terrorizes and bullies. But it cannot carry out even one of its dark threats. All it can do is suggest to us that we fold up our tent and go home. That we turn tail and run. That we curl up in a fetal position and self-sabatogue our relationships, well-being, hopes, and dreams by -- well, by just not showing up.

That's where love comes in and flicks fear away like the gnat of nothingness it is. Love is fierce. A mother doesn't curl in a ball when her child needs her. A teacher doesn't run from someone threatening her classroom full of kindergartners. A father doesn't worry about his own well-being while defending his daughter's honor. Love is not afraid -- ever.

Fear is a liar because it tries to tell us that we are weak, vulnerable, and fragile.  But Love -- fear's opposite -- gives a mother the power to lift a car off her child's foot.  It give a teacher the courage to face down a gunman stalking her classroom.

We all love.  And love is the greatest power in the universe. The tiniest infant loves. The most abused puppy responds to love. The most notorious criminal will give himself up to protect his mother. Love always wins. Fear always lies -- and loses.

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, says that the angel Gabriel has:

"the more quiet task of imparting a sense
of the ever-presence of ministering love"

And then, right on the heels of this statement she says:

"The Gabriel of His presence has no contests.

To infinite, ever-present Love, all is Love,
and there is no error, no sin, sickness, nor death."

And therefore, there is not a modicum, a morsel, or a molecule of fear. To infinite, ever-present Love, there is no fear. It is not that Love fights fear and wins. There is simply no fear in Love -- fear has no place in the presence of Love. It cannot exist in the atmosphere of Love, anymore than mold can exist in sunshine, or darkness can live in the light.

Fear is a liar. And when we know this -- we stop letting it push us around. We stand up to its bullying and refuse to surrender to it's ridiculous threats. Because Love is true, and fear is a liar.

offered with Love,

Cate