Fear

"Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous; do not be terrified, do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."  Joshua 1:9
"So do not fear, for I am with you;  do not be dismayed for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you;  I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."  Isaiah 41:10

Sometimes our fears are bigger in our head than in reality.  On an new exercise route I took one day, I encountered just such a situation.  As I approached a house with a fence, I heard a very ferocious barking and growling.  Having had a dog come out of a fence at me in the past makes me a bit wary of new encounters.  I began trembling at the sound and would not look over at the animal.  I thought if I ignored him, he would give it up.  I kept walking along the house and it being a corner house on the turn I needed to make, the dog in turn went to the other side so he could continue his rant at me.  I continue to tremble and pray for God's protection.  However, I began to feel the need to look at the dog.  Yes, I'll just make eye contact.  I heard that intimidates them.  Do I really want to intimidate him?  Struggling with my thoughts and my lack of faith and all this in a matter of seconds, I decide to stop and stare at the dog.  When I did, I almost couldn't  control my laughter.  The dog was no taller than one or two feet high on all fours.  He had much volume but very little mass.  I've heard all my life, we need to face our fears.  This was one of those times where the results proved the point of that saying.  But most importantly, God's word is true and we can depend on His protection as we cry out to Him.  It was almost as if He was telling me, "Look at what you are afraid of.  It's really nothing at all."  He "will be with us wherever we go" and if it is more than a two foot dog, "He will uphold us with His righteous right hand"!