1 John 4:18 - Love Over Fear

We need more than bare facts to overcome fear. Or at least, certain facts are essential. Here's another "Fact Over Fear," a fact called "Love."

Sometimes we're afraid and don't even realize it.

Fear masquerades as procrastination. I'm afraid to move ahead, so I delay making choices. 
Fear hides behind anger. I'm afraid of losing something/someone and end up losing my temper.
Fear smolders into depression. Anger and disappointment internalize, and I lose my way.

On the other hand, John wrote:
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love." 1 John 4:18 (New American Standard Bible, 1995) 

Love is the solution, but John specifies that it is "perfect love" that displaces fear.
Imperfect love goes up and down like a line graph.
Take your pick: 
Graphs of COVID-19 cases. 
Graphs of the stock market. 
Graphs of political fortunes.
Imperfect love can hold out if the graph doesn't go dip down too far.
But what happens when the graph goes "off the charts." Imperfect love can't keep pace.

So what is perfect love? The next verse says,
"We love, because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19)

The love from others may en-courage us, their care for us can give us courage when we are afraid. But the truest, most stable love--perfect love--is the love God has for us.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me,
Is the current of Thy love,
Leading onward, leading homeward,
To my glorious rest above!
      - Samuel Trevor Francis. 

Lord God, Give us simple faith and humility to rest in Your love for us, so that we can pass Your love on to everyone else. Amen