Free to Serve

Fear is a paralyzing thing. It can give us that frozen response to something frightening, cause us to run away, or cause us to fight. Fear actually cripples us in so many ways. Take for example someone who fears not being accepted. This fear is the fear of rejection, and it is one of the most common fears known to humanity. This is an enslaving fear because it controls how we think and act. There is the fear of failing which is also a powerful force that can fetter us. Often we will not attempt something we would really like to do because we are afraid of any possibility of failure. The fear of not having enough is what feeds our scarcity mentality. There are fears of not having the ideal body, fear of losing our health, the fear of harm and on and on the list goes.

Zachariah sang about Jesus’ ministry before he was born a babe in Bethlehem. He said that he would “rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and …enable us to serve him without fear” (Luke 1:74). We need to be rescued from our fears and delivered from them, to be able to live our lives with purpose and meaning. Jesus can do that for us. Instead of living in depression—confined by fear, Jesus will set us free and enable us to serve. Once we have been delivered from fear, we can use our gifts and talents in creative ways that benefit others for his glory.