Fighting Words: 7 Days of Speaking Truth Into the Darkness by Ellie HolcombSample

DAY 6: Fear Not

I started memorizing the last part of Isaiah 43:1 with my little girl when she was just two years old! She was having a hard time memorizing it, so I made up a little song and started to sing it to her. We would sing it together on the nights that the dark felt scary and she couldn’t go to sleep. Sometimes it was a bad dream she had, and sometimes she was just afraid that there might be monsters under her bed.

As I’ve thought about my little girl’s fear, I’ve realized that her struggle isn’t isolated to childhood. Adults can live just as scared as little ones do. Instead of lurking under our bed, grown-up monsters tend to lurk in the shadows of our mind in the form of worst-case scenarios, don’t they? I know that’s true for me. My mom has also struggled with this. Once, when she was battling through a lot of fear, her counselor and pastor asked her this: “Debbie, what is the worst thing that could happen in this situation?”

She explained in detail what that would be, and then he said this: “Okay, if that happens—that worst-case scenario that you just laid out—would God still love you?”

She replied, “Yes.”

And then he asked, “Would you still love God?” She answered again, “Yes.”

“Then I can tell you for certain that you are going to be okay because if you have the love of God to surround and support you, you can face anything.”

This particular promise from God’s Word helps me so much in the wildness of real life because, like that kind pastor pointed out to my mom, it doesn’t guarantee that we won’t be afraid or that scary circumstances will never come our way. It speaks a stronger truth into any fear that we might face. It reminds us that, even in the dark places where fear consumes us, nothing changes the fact that God has redeemed us, that He knows us, and that no matter how the story ends, we belong to Him. We are safe in Him now and forever, for His love surrounds us and supports us. Even in the worst of scenarios. Especially there. Singing this promise over my daughter and with her over the years has helped me lean into His safety in moments when fear is gripping me tight.

I’m so grateful that no matter how scared we are, God’s love and strength will hold us tighter than fear can. If I can remember that I am held in my scariest places, it changes everything and it helps me carry on with more courage than I could ever muster up on my own. 

• What are some unhealthy reactions you’ve previously had to fear? What are some healthy reactions you’ve seen in yourself? 


• How does it feel to know that in the middle of such scariness, God calls you by name? How does it change things to know you are His? 


• Even if your worst fear came true, would it change what is true about God?