From Fear to Faith: The Power of Christ’s Love for Us

“Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you! Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress! Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call!”
Psalm 102:1–2 ESV

Each time I stepped into my Dutch driving instructor’s car, I felt my whole body tense up in fear. What on earth was going on? How could I be so afraid? I had gotten my New Zealand driver’s license years ago, and I knew how to drive, and yet every time I stepped into that car, it was like all I had ever learnt went out the window. But I didn’t know why.

Can you relate? Is there something you are facing that just seems insurmountable? Do you find your body locking up in unreasonable fear? Can you not understand what is going on inside of you? If so, I pray that the story of God’s grace I am about to tell you serves as a sweet encouragement to you in your fears. 

Christ perfects His power in our human weakness.

One day, while in the car with my instructor, those fears attacking me reached a boiling point. I found myself in a full-blown panic attack in the middle of my driving. It was then, though, as I cried out in silent prayer, that Christ took over. 

My driving instructor was absolutely stunned as he watched me perfectly execute several maneuvers to park the car on the side of the road with precision and care. Suddenly, I also found my mouth opening up to speak, to say what I had longed to say all along. I let my driving instructor know exactly what I needed most from him and what I didn’t. Perfect love, Christ in me, cast out all my fear (1 John 4:18).

Christ humbles us to lead us and others, through us, to repentance.

At first, my instructor wasn’t very open to what I shared and reacted defensively. Yet, slowly and in God’s gentle encouragement, his heart, and my own also, softened. Through this process, the Holy Spirit led me to acknowledge my own wrongdoing. 

I realized that my choice to remain silent for so long had only made things worse, not just for me, but also for my instructor. It meant that when I did finally speak up, it came as a great surprise. As I apologized to my instructor for waiting so long to let him know what I needed, I noticed how God used the humility He birthed in me to soften my instructor’s heart and change his mind. 

Christ sends us out to become ambassadors for His Kingdom.

Praise God, slowly, after my apology, my instructor started giving me more encouragement, started affirming my ability to drive, and stopped giving me instructions that only confused me more. In that new trust and affirmation of his, I flourished. 

The spirit of fear lifted and I even began to enjoy the car rides and the company of my instructor. I also found myself praying for my instructor, actively seeking ways to bless and encourage him. Through Christ’s help and direction, my instructor was able to help me in the way I needed him to, and I passed my Dutch driving exam with flying colors. 

Shortly afterward, I was able to use my license to help and bless several people. God saw the need for my license and made a way (Christ) through for me, exchanging fear for faith and love.

Christ prompts us to draw near to Him in our weakness.

Interestingly, the complete turn-around in the car came as I began to seek the Lord in the fear that attacked me. Oh yes, I prayed as I sat in that car. But I mean a deeper, persistent seeking of God had taken place outside of the car also. 

I didn’t even understand what was going on in me at the time, or why I was so afraid every time I stepped into the car. But God did. As I fasted, prayed, listened, and sought His help, which also included sharing my struggles and asking friends to pray for me, God broke through. He perfected His power in my human weakness. 

Christ is our powerful ability to do what we are called to do.

Now, I look back and see how Christ is our powerful ability, through the Holy Spirit, to do whatever we are called to do with love and self-control. 

2 Timothy 1:7 puts it this way: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (KJV). In that panic, it was not me, but Christ who revealed Himself through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in me.

In that car, I forgot the power of the Holy Spirit in me and God’s Word – until Christ graciously reminded me, as I sought Him with my whole heart. Then, my prayers that had been rooted in fear became His prayers for me, abiding in love and peace. “The Lord protects the unwary; when I was brought low, he saved me.” (Ps. 116:6 NIV).

Christ reveals the culture of His kingdom in and through us.

Now, as I look back on my experiences with my driving instructor, I also see cultural differences at play between us. Generally speaking, based on my personal experience and those of others, I can say that encouragement is not a strong suit of the Dutch, while speaking the truth is. New Zealanders, on the other hand, are, in my own experience and those of my Dutch husband, generally better at encouraging others than the Dutch, but not so good at speaking the truth, often hiding behind polite niceties.

Through these cultural differences and the clash with my instructor, I can now see God’s purpose at work in sending us (A)TCKs out into the world. As ambassadors for His kingdom (2 Cor. 5:20), we bring the godly gifts from our passport countries into the countries He sets us in. But He also places us strategically, where we too can learn from others and be conformed into His image through the godly gifts that have been cultivated by the church in the countries He plants us in. 

My instructor’s experience with me will no doubt now prompt him to not just correct his students in their driving, but also build them up in encouragement. Meanwhile, my experience with him was a pertinent reminder to me to keep seeking God’s help to obey His command to us to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15), that I too might be conformed into His image in doing so. 

Christ redeems our past sin, empowering us to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Him.

But there was more at play than just cultural differences. As Christ opened my mouth to speak, He was also reminding me that not my past, but He, defines me. 

When I spoke up as a child against the abuse of a loved one and was turned away by man, I ended up walking away from my faith for more than twenty years, choosing to believe that man’s rejection was God’s rejection of me. Since then, in bringing me back home into His love ten years ago, God has repeatedly called me to speak up. I see how in each experience He is renewing my mind and healing my body, as I come to know more of His love for me, no matter what unfolds.

Yet, each time, I have repeatedly felt paralyzed by fear. But in each paralysis, Christ has again and again taught me that not I, but He, enables me to do what He has called me to do. He has exhorted me not to focus on my weakness, such as my Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder diagnosis and my chronic heart condition, but on Him and His promise to me to perfect His power in my human weakness as I come to Him (2 Cor. 12:9).

Praise God, as I was once again enticed by my selfish desire to avoid confrontation, Christ defended me. He revealed the power of His voice for me, reminding me that my past does not get to dictate my present and future in Him. In my paralyzed state, He broke through for me. He empowered me to deny myself rather than “protect” myself, to pick up my cross and follow Him (Matt. 16:24), to seek first (the culture of) His kingdom and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33).

“You whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, ‘You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off’; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
 Isaiah 41:9–10 ESV

Christ understands us in our weakness.

Praise God, Christ understood me in my weakness  (Heb. 4:15). He did not condemn me. He showed me that He understood what was going on inside of me, revealing the truth of the biblical promise: “If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything” (1 John 3:20 NIV). Praise God, nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:38).

Christ reveals the power of His Word, praying with thanksgiving and His church.

Yet, Christ also didn’t leave me where I was. Now, I go into new situations prepared to put the instructions in Philippians 4:6–7 into practice. I am learning to fight fear by praising and thanking God for who He is. As I do so, I am consciously shifting my thoughts from myself to Christ before I present my requests to Him. This roots my requests in Him, rather than myself, and encourages me to look outward to love and serve others, rather than bow before the idol of self, keeping myself trapped in fear and shame. 

This practice of praise is also showing me why God told Paul that the only reason he was at first overcome by fear, when he faced persecution, was because he had begun trusting in himself, rather than Christ (2 Cor. 1:9). 

Now, I can see how Satan’s divisive thoughts encourage us to put our trust in ourselves and to dwell on our past: “You can’t speak up. Remember what happened in the past.” While thanking Jesus, on the other hand, puts our trust in Him as our Savior and the Redeemer of our past: “Thank You, Jesus, that I can do all things through You who strengthens me. Thank You that in You I am a new creation. Thank You that the old is gone, and that the new has come” (Phl. 4:13; 2 Cor. 5:17). 

“lt is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
 Philippians 2:13 ESV

Whether we are a TCK/ATCK or not, the temptations we face as members of His body are the same, common to all humankind (1 Cor. 10:13). So, I am now also learning to fight fear, together with my family in Christ, especially with my non-ATCK spiritual mothers and grandmas of faith. Almost daily, we pray together, confess our sins to each other, share our testimonies of God’s goodness, and send each other worship songs and Scriptures. What a gift my spiritual moms are.

Christ’s love for us empowers us to obey His Word, casting out all fear.

Through every humbling, in my learning and growing, I have been so encouraged by the truth that we are hidden in Christ (Col. 3:3). For, “When [we] believed, [we] were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:13–14 NIV). 

This, and repeated experiences of Christ’s protection of me, continually encourage me to keep drawing near to God whenever anxious thoughts assail me.

“When anxiety was great within me,
    your consolation brought me joy.” 
Psalm 94:19 NASB

I am spurred on to keep looking intently at Jesus, our perfect law of freedom, and to persevere in His Word (Jam. 1:25). Christ is empowering me to obey His Word to reap more and more of the peace He has promised us (Ps. 119:165; John 16:33). Praise Him!

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” 
John 15:13–14 ESV

---

---