Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Matthew 14:31

John wrote in his first epistle that perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment (1 John 4:18).  John explained that it is when we abide in love that we abide in God.

Nearly all of the gospel, and hence life, revolves around fear in some way in another.  From the first time in the garden, when Adam and Eve knew they were naked, covered themselves, and hid from the presence of Almighty God.  To the first murder, when Cain offered an unacceptable sacrifice, God warned him, and  slew Abel out of jealousy.

As to the Sermon on the Mount, it presents the secrets of the Kingdom, hidden from the foundation of the world.  We read here Jesus’ words.

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Matthew 5:21-22

When we look at anger, adultery, and most other sins, they nearly all have some root in fear.  As has been preached, both fear and faith cannot exist in the same heart at the same time.

But, first, one must recognize their own fear.  One must see that one’s own behavior is motivated out of fear on some level.  Fear of lack, fear of embarrassment, fear of being hurt, fear of death, fear of punishment, fear of loss.  Fear comes in many varieties.  But, it can only live in a heart that is not in faith of the truth.

But, simply because someone can recognize that they are afraid does not always mean they can steer clear of it.  This requires God’s truth, God’s word, to stand against the threatenings of the enemy.

The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?  The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 27:1

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

Psalm 23:1

But, of what are we afraid?

Jesus asked Peter why he doubted.  Why was he afraid?

The life of fear can be subtle, at least to the one who has lived it their entire life.  When fear is a way of life, the way out can be just as scary as what you’re afraid of in the first place.

When life encounters you, do you stand in your own strength, or in that of another, namely Christ?  For many, this difference is never deeply sounded out.  For others, in that they were never given great strength to begin with, nor have had a strong rooting in every area of the Lord, fear has been a way of life.

Yet, the only way out is His love, His grace, His mercy.

The end of fear is like a great mountain.  It is so vast, so immense, that to pass out beyond it would cost you everything.  No familiarity, no familiar ties, and no pieces of your past along the way.

Like when Abraham set out at the word of the Lord into a place God would show Him, the end of fear is a place that only faith can bring you to, only the continually proceeding word can keep you in, and only His Love can preserve you at.

The place of letting ourselves face our fears, of letting go, of moving Beyond.

The door to freedom begins with the Truth.  It is not in the actions, not in the movements of the flesh, but in the place of the heart, within the spirit.

And, as the darkness is confronted, it is overcome.  And as the falseness is displaced, the victory is won.

And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.

John 8:29

Jesus was never alone.  He was always provided for.  He was always secure.  As He prayed, called out to God, God supplied His every need, even according to His own words, that they would be supplied (Matthew 6:33).  Even in the garden, God sent an angel to strengthen Him, that He would be able to endure.

But in the heart of the believer, beneath the sand, beneath the soul, lies the Spirit.  Beneath that which you can do, lives the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead (Romans 8:11).  At the bottom of yourself, when all else is removed, is everything you will ever need, emotionally, physically, spiritually, ever.

At the end of yourself, at the fruition of every good deed of God, and at the source of every right impulse of the Christian, the Holy Spirit, God Himself, works within us to will and to do according to all God’s good purpose (Philippians 2:13).

The end of all fear comes when you come to the end of yourself.  When you can look death in the face, embarrassment, dismemberment, loss of family, life, career, reputation, and everything else that this life calls worthy, and bow to the Holy Ghost, and say, “Come on”.

And, if we die, we die in Faith.

Proverbs 13:8 says, “A man’s riches may ransom his life, but a poor man hears no threat.”  So long as we are built solidly upon the rock, there is no threat that man can bring, the enemy can muster, nor the universe can present that can move us.  So long as we please God, our way is sure, and our heart can abide in His Rest (Hebrews 4:10).

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:  “For your sake we face death all day long;  we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35-39

This is the heart and will of God.  That we be made perfect in love, and come to the end of all fear.  When our every desire is satisfied within the Lord, what can any mortal man do to us?  What loss is too great?  What thing could ever discourage us from His face?

No, nothing in all creation can stand before the man who is already dead.  Though the enemy may be allowed to take our body, he cannot touch our soul, and precious in His sight is the death of His saints.

The end of all fear is a brand new journey, and it begins today.