Riding on the subway this morning, I was listening to a new album which I recently downloaded. As strange as it sounds, I often have some of my most relaxing and thought provoking times while listening to music, by myself, and in public transportation scenarios. This time was no different.
A line from the song “Friendly Fire” by Leagues caught my attention.
“Fear only talks to those who listen”
This line stopped me dead in the midst of my fluttering thoughts and prayers, as the train raced through the black of the underground tunnel we were in. The issue of fear has been on my mind since that moment.
Fear is a part of all of our lives. We learn it early. It can be good. It keeps us from running out in the middle of traffic or from touching a hot stove. Sometimes fear is good, but most of the time it is toxic.
Fear cripples us from moving out in faith and in life. It keeps us from making career moves that would be a better fit, both for ourselves and the world around us. Fear keeps us from having conversations with loved ones that we know we need to have. Fear keeps us from taking needed risks in order
to help others and which would advance our own personal good.
We could talk about this issue of fear for the next 20 posts, and I do think I will write more on it in the coming weeks. However, for now, I just want to mention the powerful line from this song by Leagues.
“Fear only talks to those who listen”
Fear will talk to us. It does to me, daily. Sometimes its voice is soft and almost unrecognizable. Other times it has the volume of the bedside alarm clock which jolts my body from deep sleep. Fear speaks of future failures in my professional and personal life. Of course it talks to me about my relational status, but it also speaks of the well-being of those whom I love, both family and friends. Fear has spoken to me for as long as I have memories of life. It has spoken on subjects as trivial as giving up a touchdown against Tucker High or as significant as Mom’s cancer or the safety of friends in harm’s way.
Fear spews out venomous lies of condemnation and self-deception. Make no mistake, though, the voice of fear is a lie. It always is.
I am slowly learning to tune out “fear’s talk” with truth and reality. I’m still a long way from being finished in this area, but I am growing, ever so slowly, in not allowing fear to dominate my feelings, choices, and views of the world around me.
When you follow the God of the Universe, when the maker of everyone and everything is present in all you do, in every scenario of your life, then you are ultimately fine. Your destination is vouchsafed and your inheritance is secure beyond measure. This truth is often muted in the stresses of everyday life, yet this does not lessen its veracity.
Reality is that “perfect love casts out fear”, as we see in 1 John 4:18. We are loved perfectly, by our perfect God, whom has all power, knowledge, strength, and ability. This is the voice that we must fight to listen to, not that of the cries of fear.
As a result of God, fear is, in almost all occasions, nonsensical, irrational, and a lie of which we simply must not listen.
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? – Psalm 27:1
We all have voices of fear in our head from time to time. However, may the truth of Christ, found within His written Word, drown these voices of fear, condemnation, and lies out. In Psalm 27:1, and so many other places, we see truth. May we listen to and live according to this truth above all else.
My prayer today for you and me is simply that we will not be people whom listen to the voices of fear in our heads, but rather to the truth, as revealed by the good, sovereign, and present God of the Universe.
Good words John. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Lisa!
GOOD STUFF as always JOHN>>>>we all wrestle with silencing fearful words & overcome by the Blood of the Lamb & His Living WORD.
HUGS !!!!
Good thoughts Mrs. Clarke. . . have a great day!
Fear only talks to those who listen.. Loved hearing your thoughts on this topic and look foward to more on this subject. Thanks for sharing, Love & Hugs!!!!
Thanks Jane, I hope I have a few more in me. Kind of a taxing topic to write on. Hope you are doing well!
John, this is so profound! Fear comes in all manner of shapes and sizes and it tries to attack every area of our lives EVERY day. Thank you for sharing the truths above and I will keep each and every point in mind.
Hello fear, I’m not listening :rolleyes:
Blessings to you John, hope Asia is treating you well.
LOL. . . I love the mental image of rolling your eyes are fear. Hilarious! Hope you are having a good day!
You know when you roll your eyes at someone who is trying to talk to you they will just stop. I hope fear gets the message. Have a good day and a great weekend ahead.
Good point…I didn’t think of that. You too!
So good, thank you so much. Have to speak this weekend, which generally gives me fear. This is a good reminder of how many times Jesus commands us NOT to fear, and that if God is for us, who can be against us?! Nobody that matters, anyway. Thank you.
And may I say sir, that you have impeccable taste in music.
Thanks on both accounts. Still getting used to Leagues, but I think I’m going to really like them. New music always takes a bit little adjustment time for me.
Hope this weekend is outstanding!
The paragraph “Fear cripples us from moving out in faith and in life…” encouraged (actually challenged!) me today as I get ready for some conversations and decisions where I can easily let fear rule rather than listen to God’s voice. Thanks for sharing your insights while on public transportation!
Great hearing from you Liz. . . yeah, these types of times you mention here are some of the times where fear is most prevalent for me too.
Thanks for sharing here!
You’re stealing my blog posts now, Gunter!? Same title and everything! GOSH 🙂
Good stuff though I approve.
Whoops, I just read the title of your Google+ link to this, not the actual article title. I see now that I was wrong about the title… my bad…
Such good revelation and encouragement/challenge! I think fear is the antithesis of a heart that trusts. Maybe this is why the struggle is common to all of us.. which again ‘echoes Eden’. Seems being deceived by lies is a part of our human DNA. Love what you said about “but I am growing, ever so slowly”. Shows the transforming power of God working in a broken (yet perfectly loved) people and therefore providing us hope.Thank you for the time you spend in sharing the things that God is speaking to you! Grace & peace…
Thanks. . . good hearing from you. Have a great weekend!
Btw…Would you mind if I share this post my sister and some friends who have expressed some ‘fears’ recently? I believe they will benefit from your thoughts.
Absolutely. I’m honored you would do so. Thanks!
Awesome stuff. What an analogy to use. Fear is a voice/..and in our case, it’s a noise that we can cut out, shut down, tune down…or totally turn off! I love it. Yet I also think that one of the surest way of dealing with it is actively doing something. I am a firm believer that the greatest goal of fear is to incapacitate, immobilize and paralyze us. That is why I advocate for doing something…anything while in the state of fear….thats the sure way of tuning fear out. Great read I must say! /
Lawrence, thank you so much for you addition here. I completely agree with you. I agree that one of, if not the worst responses to fear is paralysis. Thanks for writing this into the post! Have read and am really impressed with you blog. Great stuff!
Lance! I’m so thrilled to see your comment on here. As shared, this post reminded me of a conversation we had a long long time ago, and yeah, you told me to do something. 🙂
As you love to tell people to shurrup, I believe fear should be told the same often.
speaking of fear, do you still scream like my 5 year old everytime you see a rat?
We can’t all be Candy Crush Saga warriors.
Pat beat me to it…
What a bunch of Sally’s. . . Go Falcons!
John, I am so grateful for your writing this post. This is one of my favorite posts I’ve read of yours. I am getting more excited/anxious as we get closer to coming over there, and fear has been taking over lately. This couldn’t have come at a better time. I love hearing how you’re relying on God to tune out the white noise. Praying for you. 🙂
Sarah, thanks for sharing here, I really do appreciate it. You are taking a huge step in life in uprooting and heading our way. No matter how good you feel about this decision, it is absolutely scary and ridden with fear. I’m convinced this is why so many people stick with status quo and never make the types of decisions and moves like you guys are on the cusp of making.
Seriously, I am praying for you guys. Please know that I am more than available for ANYTHING you and Craig need in this transition.
Thanks for your heart and faith! I can’t wait to have you guys over here and get to know you both much better.
Have a great weekend!
Thanks Gunter! I needed to hear that today!! 🙂
Great hearing from you Michelle. . . we miss you! Hope you are well!