Did you ever wonder why cuss words were bad? I remember as a kid thinking- what makes those words- bad? Who was the one, that deemed those words bad? How are they any different than any other word?

I just know we were not allowed to utter them; even if we accidently hit our toe on the bed; or we would get our mouth washed out with a bar of soap! You were lucky if you did not soap on the back of your bottom front teeth. This punishment also applied to back talking. Oh, and the word DERN was close enough to the other 4L word that it was prohibited as well.

As I recall, I watched my brother go through this type of punishment more than I ever had too. Did y’all just see my face crack a smile when I typed that?- Ha!

In my pre-teens, I remember getting in trouble calling my younger brother an idiot. So I made up a word instead; ‘Onionette, pronounced (un-yet) with a southern dialect or draw. Not sure why I chose it. I guess it sounded close enough to the meaning.

We will not go off on the rabit trail to why I thought calling him an idiot made me feel better when he frustrated me.

All the older siblings reading this- raise your hand. I am sure you know what I mean. For the rest of you; you may never understand 🙂

Yes, I loved him, but gosh he “never” got in trouble 😉 Ok, I take that back. He did get in trouble, but for whatever reason, so did I. He took me down with him.

As I have grown older, I have learned that the letters F*E*A*R can turn into the most debilitating 4L word. I found my heart shouting it daily. Think about the following types of fear. Can you relate to any of them?

• Fear of the unknown
• Fear that I ‘messed up
• Fear that I made the wrong decision
• Fear that my life was not going the way I wanted
• Fear of what people would say about me
• Fear of gossip you cannot control
• Fear of what life would be like without ______
• Fear was I doing the right thing
• Fear that I would be taken the wrong way, missunderstood
• Fear that I was letting someone down
• Fear that those chains would never break
• Fear that I was not doing something right, that is why I did not feel God.
• Fear that I would be cold that day because I did not wear the right clothes
• Fear that I would not be accepted
• Fear that I could not sleep and get rest..
• Fear I would not have enough money
• Fear I was not good enough for _______
• Fear that I would not be happy
• Fear that it would never end…….
• Fear that I would get wet and mess up my hair or shoes when I did not know it was supposed to rain…..

You see, FEAR can be dibilitating. It will make you want to stay home in your pajamas and not show your face. It will make you not want to be in the presence of other people. Let’s face it, it will make you want to crawl in a hole and never come out. I am sure you can come up with your own list and I could go on and on with mine. FEAR can be so serious or just plain silly when you think about it.

Webster dictionary defines fear as being used as either a noun or verb:
  1a : an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger. b(1) : an instance of this emotion. (2) : a state marked by this emotion. 2 : anxious concern : solicitude. 3 : profound reverence and awe especially toward God. 

Reverence and Awe…… hold that thought.

What are similar terms or words to that of FEAR?:

• angst
• anxiety
• concern
• despair
• dismay
• doubt
• dread
• horror
• jitters
• panic
• scare
• suspicion
• terror
• unease
• uneasiness
• worry

There it is. The WORD WORRY. You know, sometime I wonder is it fear or is it worry? What is the difference?

Webster also defines worry as:
1a : mental distress or agitation resulting from concern usually for something impending or anticipated : ANXIETYb: an instance or occurrence of such distress or agitation
2: a cause of worry : TROUBLE, DIFFICULTY

A cause of worry: trouble, difficulty

I can tell you, as my faith grows, I have learned that I am not supposed to worry or be fearful. I do not have to be in charge of every detail of my life telling it which way to go.

Let’s go back to reverence and awe. Make no mistake that God is all powerful and in charge. We should not fear him as in afraid of him but with a respectful Heavenly, all knowing, Father reverence and respect. For He is here to give us hope and a future. He will leave the 99 to come get you.…

I am reminded of 1 Peter 5:6-7.

No matter which translation you like to read, I generaly chose the New King James Version (NKJV), but I know sometimes it may be harder to read or get the gist of a story line with words such as thalt, shalt … Just becareful, some translations change words and meanings, but it is ok to compare.

1 Peter 5:6-7 (NKJV)

6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

I will share with you several translations of 1 Peter 5:6-7, and you can see for yourself what was trying to be communicated with us on the subjects of fear and worry.

• PTP Pour out all your worries and stress upon him and leave them there, for he always tenderly cares for you.
• MSG So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.
• NIV Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
• NLT Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
• KJV Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

The Bible is full of wisdom on how to combat fear and worry. There are many stories we can learn from or use as examples. I encourage you to start exploring those stories and scriptures if you are in a thirsty place to recieve more encouragement.

How do I get started- you ask? In most Bibles there are pages in the back that make references to certain words, subjects or people. If you can get your hands on a Student Bible, it dives deeper to define the stories that I am speaking of.

Is my worry and fear gone? I can’t say that it is. The enemy tries to slap me in the face with it daily. But, I can battle those self defeating (fleshy) thoughts with the knowlege and wisdom that God is in control of my life, if I let him be. I do not have to carry around the weight of fear and worry. I can give it to him and he will gladly hold it for me.

James 4:6-10 (NIV)

6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:  “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”[a]7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. 

God does not promise us that are lives will be without pain, and hurt, good times or bad.

He does not promise that if you follow his every rule that you will not go through and experience horrible worldy things.

He does promise that He will never leave you or forget about you (Deuterominy 31:6). He will hold your hand through it all. Focus on him and the world will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. (click here)

Here are a few more of my favorite songs that you might like to listen to today.

Reckless Love- Cory Asbury
The break up song- Francesca Battistelli 
Fear is a liar- Zach Williams
Chain Breaker- Zach Williams
No longer a slave to fear- Chris Tomlin
Rescue- Lauren Daigle

Isaiah 41:10 (KJV)

¹⁰ Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

NO FEAR!

Thinking of you today- His love and mine- Lauren

http://www.thedaughtersfather.net