Hackles are “the hair or feathers on the back of an animal’s neck that stand up when the animal is feeling threatened or agitated, or to the figurative meaning of making someone angry.” (Google) Our 6-month-old dachshund puppy gets her hackles up at everything. Like her, “We fear what we don’t know,” Anonymous.

Last week I experienced fear with a young man remoting into my laptop & phone replacing & updating my computer system. I have the technology skills of a door. Therefore, I fear. This fear goes back to a college experience. We were given an assignment to go online and download a program from the computer library and run the program. He gave us a bunch of words that we were to use when doing this exercise. My attempts were not successful.

As my professor glanced over the printout of my work, he closed the door and said, “Who has seen this?” I told him, “Only you.” He then said, “Destroy this! You have wiped out peoples’ files…projects they are working. They might do bad things to you if they found out!” I said, “So, purge does not mean checkout the file?”

What gets your hackles up? You & I have our own personal list. At the center of the list is our lack of control, which creates uncertainty of the results, which leads to made up stories of defeat. Fear!

Fear is real. Fear paralyzes us. Fear results in poor decisions. We are vulnerable to fear setting in when we are unprepared & surprised. This is why high-performance military units relentlessly practice different scenarios. In this increasingly challenging time, we must prepare and be ready. Revelation tells us the last days will be difficult (Revelation 2:9-10).

God knew life would be scary & difficult. Over 300 times in the Bible He has said, “Fear not”, “Do not be afraid”. Only Jesus has the power to transform what we fear into faith. Jesus said in John 14:1, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.” In Revelation 1:17 Jesus said, “Then He (Jesus) placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

Jesus is our Good News…our Hope. Our Promise Keeping Victor. Because of Him we have nothing to fear…if we are His followers, a child of God. My Hope…my back against the wall verse is, John 10:28, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

Isn’t it time you allowed Jesus to transform your fear into faith? He will if you ask Him.