It was early one morning after a midnight shift when I was stationed in Turkey. Just outside the operations floor an Air Force medical team had set up a blood donation room. Several of my buddies & I got there early before the big rush. This allowed us to eat cookies, drink orange juice and visit with the nurses. All the things single guys do in the military. To add to the fun, I started chatting with another buddy who had just finished giving blood. He was sitting on the side of the bed waiting to be told he could get up and get his cookies & orange juice. That’s when I said, “Tom, do you feel ok? You don’t look good. I’m going to get the nurse.” As I turned around, I heard him hit the floor…BAM! There he was, passed out, bloody nose and the nurse yelling at me, “You, get out of here!”

When I think about it, this was a powerful God School lesson on “The Power of Suggestion.” Tom & I were defensive tackles on the football team. Tom was perfectly healthy, and he looked great. But at that moment… “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7. This is what fear can & will do to anyone. Fear immobilizes & paralyzes. Fear is consuming. Throughout the Bible God warns us about fear. Google tells us that the phrase, “Fear Not” appears in the Bible 365 times. Yep, that’s ONE “Fear Not” for each day.

God shared His Way, His formula for dealing with fear with Joshua & us. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9. You might be saying, “Yeah, that sounds wonderful BUT how?”

I have found solace in 1. Reading and pondering many of His Promises in the Bible. 2. Remembering the times He has rescued me and 3. Prayer.

Deuteronomy 31:8 “He will never leave you nor forsake you.” This is a Promise Made – Promise Kept!

Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’” God has kept this promise to me through cancer, the death of parents, loss of jobs and other storms of life.

2 Corinthians 12:9 “And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” An incredible Godly Principle, Depending on God and not us.

Ephesians 3:16 “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man.” The Holy Spirit is the power source that Jesus promised in John chapters 14-16.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”. If you are walking in fear, you are walking away from God. In John 10:10 we learn fear is, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” But Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Faith is walking & trusting in God’s full authority and His love. It is confidence in the Promise of Jesus, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:28