Love and Fear

The most common command in Scripture is “Do not be afraid.” This command occurs over three hundred times. Ed Welch writes:

God never says anything just to get you off his back. The sheer number of times he speaks to your fears says that he cares much more than you know…Search Scripture and find that our fears are not trivial to God. (Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God Rest

)

There are two ways of seeing the command, “Don’t be afraid.” One is as a command; one is as an invitation spoken by One who cares for us. When we understand God’s love and power, we don’t need to be afraid.

This psalm says it well:

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 ESV)

By the way, Welch’s book

makes a good thirty-day personal study if you’re interested in this topic.