I know Fear

I know fear.

I have not just read about it, preached about it, or heard others describe it. I have tasted it. I have faced it on the streets, sometimes outnumbered, where the outcome did not unfold like some clean television cop show.

I have seen fear in riots in Carbondale and Cairo, when the odds felt overwhelming and the danger was real. I have felt it in a burning building, barely escaping with the lives of two men in my arms. I have known it in the Marines, serving with an SRT and responding to calls of intruders at a top-secret facility, not knowing what might be waiting on the other side.

Yes, I know fear.

I have lived with it.

But more importantly, I have lived with the God who has never forsaken me.

That is the difference.

Courage is not pretending fear does not exist. Courage is not acting like your hands never shake or your heart never races. Courage is knowing the fear is real, but trusting that God is more real.

When Scripture says, “Be strong and courageous,” it does not mean we will never be afraid. It means we do not have to be ruled by fear. It means we can take the next step because the Lord our God goes with us.

Looking back over my life, I can see dangerous moments, hard moments, and moments I would not want to relive. But I can also see the faithfulness of God through every one of them.

He was there.

He sustained me.

He carried me.

He never left me.

So when I say God will never leave you nor forsake you, I am not saying it as a slogan. I am saying it as a man who has walked through fear and found God faithful on the other side.

Fear may be real.

But God is faithful.