Fearless

Can you imagine your life without fear? That’s the question Max Lucado asks in his new book Fearless. My first response is “Not in this lifetime, Max!” It almost seems cruel and out of touch with reality to ask such a question to people who are suffering like never before in history. Yet, it echoes the voice of Jesus as he revealed the heart of a loving Father assuring us over and over again, “Do not be afraid. I am with you.”

Our ears are assaulted every day by the media and various fear-mongers who tell stories about real people suffering the loss of jobs, homes, relationships, and the lives of those they love. Fear about the economy, government control, natural disasters, increasing violence and terrorism, and death is no longer contained in an adult world—it has invaded the hearts of children at play.

That’s why this book is so timely. You will find yourself in its pages—your situation described, your fears exposed . . . even those you’ve hidden deep beneath the façade of faith. Max warns that fear corrodes our confidence in God’s goodness. He writes, “We begin to wonder if love lives in heaven. If God can sleep in our storms, if his eyes stay shut when our eyes grow wide, if he permits storms after we get on his boat, does he care?”

Max describes the collateral damage of fear:
• It turns us into control freaks who exclude God and try to make life work on our own terms.
• We forget how good God is and begin to doubt He has the power or desire to change things.
• It sucks the life out of our soul and safety becomes our god.
• We cannot love deeply or give generously.

Yes, you will discover yourself and your world described in this book, but you will also find God there—not simply standing on the sidelines or watching at a distance, but calling you to courage . . . challenging you to move from a state of fear to confident trust, promising to guide you through the storm if you’ll let go of your control and risk everything into His hands.

I want to be fearless. Don’t you? I want to be filled with faith, never wavering and never doubting. But the truth is, sometimes fear sneaks up from behind or breaks into my secure, comfortable world and scares the dickens out of me. Max provides great wisdom in these situations:

“Fear may fill our world, but it doesn’t have to fill our hearts. It will always knock on the door. Just don’t invite it in for dinner, and for heaven’s sake don’t offer it a bed for the night. The promise of Christ and the contention of this book are simple: we can fear less tomorrow than we do today.”

Fearless is not just another great book by Max Lucado; it is a lifeline that will keep you from drowning in fear and despair. It is a reminder that as we draw near to God in the midst of our life storms we find out His perfect love casts out our fear.

Brenda Branson
http://brokenpeople.org