"No Fear"

I caught hold of the lead rope,

And tried to calm him down,

He wasn’t used to everything,

He was seeing there in town.

Riding on my best horse,

And leadin’ my young paint,

Later I would make a swap,

No thought that I can’t.

But when the wagons started,

One mule let out a bray,

And that was just too much for him,

He bolted, snatched away.

Ran downhill a little way,

And then began to pitch,

And buddy, let me tell you,

He was going all ways which.

The wagon train, it stopped to see,

What all this was about,

A cheerin’ for the buckin’ horse,

They had nary a doubt,

That the mules had caused the trouble,

It was something wild to view,

And when I got him gathered up,

Next thing that I knew,

The wagons started rolling,

He jerked away again,

Pitched another buckin’ fit,

Like the one where he’d just been.

And again the wagons halted,

Again they watched him buck,

And I began to wonder,

If I was out of luck.

‘Cause, see, we all were headed,

Downtown for the parade,

Of our local rodeo,

I thought maybe if I stayed,

Way back behind the wagons,

We might be all right,

Problem was we had a plan,

As downtown came in sight,

For me to ride the paint horse,

The one who was so scared,

Of those mules and wagons,

I’d ride him if I dared.

So here’s the way it happened,

I’m glad that I can say,

My paint he did behave himself,

The rest of that whole day.

With flags and horns and children,

Commotion all about,

In spite of mules and wagons,

We traveled strong and stout.

I guess he just got over,

The fear he had at first,

Settled down and did his job,

Without thinking of the worst.

What is that you’re thinking

About the things you fear,

Well, God has hold the lead rope,

And He is present near.

And when the mule starts braying,

He really is no threat,

So focus on what matters,

God plans the best days yet.

Step up in your saddle,

And ride in God’s parade,

He will lead the party,

It’s why this day was made.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity…” (2 Timothy 1:7, NLT)

Some fear is normal and okay. That’s the kind that is built into our DNA to protect us when threatened with danger. It’s why we duck when we hear a loud noise nearby. But many of us suffer from more than an occasional moment like that, but are habitually tormented by worry, anxiety, intimidating thoughts, panic, and phobias that steal our peace and paralyze our activity. God is not the author of such emotions. In fact He wants to replace them with power, love and self-discipline or a “sound mind.” When we are being energized by the Spirit of power, love and self-discipline, fear has to go! His love expels it, and the devil who tries to sabotage us with it. Trust God to do this. Give every single fear to Him, and ask Him to give you what it takes to overcome. He will. You can. Count on it.

Lord, help us overcome every fear, in Jesus’ name.

Photo by Mark Foley, used by permission. Thanks, Mark, and God bless you.