January 21st

Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Psalm 2:11

The words serve and rejoice are two key words that help us deal with fear. Serving the Lord deepens our relationship with Him and deepens our confidence that He will care for us. We need to do this on an hour by hour and day by day basis to gain the more benefit. When we serve, we also follow our Master. Our Lord promises to lead us in good and pleasant places even in times of trouble. Satan only gives us fleeting enjoyment that leads us to destruction and death. To deal with the question of fear, we must decide what master we are going to serve.

Rejoicing in the Lord is a powerful way to call down His presence. His presence is the great power that destroys our fear. When the Lord is near to us, we are not afraid of the outcome because we know that He always has our best interests at heart.

Rejoicing always chases away the deep darkness of fear and brings the light of joy to our lives. We are less afraid when we are serving and rejoicing with others. It is this other centeredness that is so powerful and effective in defeating fear.