“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”
1 John 4:18 KJV
I always felt condemnation when I heard that verse.
I thought it should be comforting and reassuring so I felt even more condemned.
I experience fear, therefore, I don’t have perfect love. There must be something wrong with me because I still experience fear.
Last week this verse hit me in a new way.
Jesus is perfect love and in His presence, there is no fear. It was so comforting. I don’t need to get to a point where I have no fear. Maybe that’s not humanly possible. But I don’t have to. I just come back to love. I come back to the person of love.
In His presence, fear subsides.
I rested in that for a couple of days. On Sunday during worship, the songs came together to solidify the revelation. One line from a song says “Fear doesn’t stand a chance when I stand in Your love” I thought, “Right- if I’m afraid I just come back to You and stand in Your love and fear is gone.”
Another song referred to setting a table in the presence of our enemies. It’s not a bread and water table. It’s a banqueting table. The 23rd Psalm says He sets a table for me in the presence of my enemies. That’s the love. Making a banquet right in the midst of fear. That’s the loving presence He’s inviting us into. What is there to be afraid of? We sit at that banquet table of love.
At the Table
I’m making time to picture myself seated at that banquet table. What has He set before me? What is He providing? With even a vague picture in my mind, I feel peace instead of fear. There is abundance.
