At the Feet of Jesus by Joanna Weaver – Day 6
Do what is right and do not give way to fear. 1 Peter 3:6
Fear makes us do slightly crazy, often inappropriate things. Fear blurts out thoughtless, sometimes hurtful words. Fear babbles. It freaks out. It searches frantically for explanations and solutions. Fear sews together fig leaves to cover our inadequacies and paints bright smiles to hide our tears. It builds makeshift shelters and puts on far too much makeup. It forces us to hide behind facades simply because we don’t know what else to do.
Perhaps that’s why Peter instructs us to spend less time on outward adornment—the building of ornate shelters to house our fragile egos—and to spend more time making our inner lives lovely (1 Peter 3:3–4). To become so secure in who we are in Christ that we have no trouble calling Him “Master” or trusting Him as Lord.
When Bill Gothard mentioned 1 Peter 3:3–6 in a seminar years ago, my ears perked up. What would he say? I had prayed for a quiet and gentle spirit for years.
“A quiet and gentle spirit,” Gothard said, connecting verses 4 and 6, “is a heart free from fear.”
Well, I couldn’t help it! I had to shout “Hallelujah!” right there in the middle of the silent crowd. Everyone looked at me strangely, but I didn’t care. God had done exactly that over the previous year—He had delivered me from fear. It had never occurred to me that the quiet and gentle spirit I had been praying for was really a heart at rest. A mind free from anxiety. But when it finally came together and I saw what God had done—well, when the Holy Spirit changes you in such a deep, elemental way, you’ve just got to shout about it!
—Having a Mary Spirit
Read: Psalm 131
Reflect: Which of these verses, if applied, could help you overcome anxiety in your life?
Excerpted from At the Feet of Jesus by Joanna Weaver. Copyright © 2012 by Joanna Weaver. Excerpted by permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
