TODAY’S JOURNAL A record of occurrences, experiences or observations. by R. D. Sandlin

                        Tormented Saints                                     Jan. 14, 2005

"...through fear...were all their lifetime subject to bondage." I must confess that in the flesh I am one such person. I do know if it's because I was brought up without a father, or if it is just part of my natural temperament. But it is something I have had to fight all my life.

I have a dear friend who is paralyzed from the waist down. As a result, she can neither feel, move, or use her legs. So it is with fear; it paralyzes. Whenever you find fear, you'll find a person frozen in his steps.

To be sure, where there is fear, there is no faith. We need to come to the realization that "God hath not given us the spirit of fear." Fearful Timothy had to be reminded of this. True, fear has a basis, at times; but, generally, it is something intangible or a nameless dread that grips and numbs us. Some of us fear everything— people, past, and future. We live in fear of the unknown, and the result is, "Fear hath torment."

Is there any cure for this plague of the soul? Thankfully, there is. The writer of Hebrews lets us in on his secret for overcoming fear. "The Lord is my helper...I will not fear." Two things are required: first, a confidence in the Lord's presence, and secondly, a determination of my will.