Acts 18:9-10
One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”
Throughout the Bible, we hear God telling people not to be afraid. When God made a covenant with Abram, the father of the nation of Israel, He spoke to him in a vision and told him not to be afraid. Later, we meet Joshua after the death of Moses, and God told him not to be afraid or discouraged “for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). Much later, we hear the angel telling a young girl called Mary not to be afraid when she is told she will give birth to the Son of God.
The command not to be afraid reminds us how damaging fear can be. God knows that we cannot be effective in serving Him unless we overcome the problem of fear. Fear takes many forms, and it can creep up on us. It may be a fear of what other people think of us or a fear of failure, loss, ill health or death. Just because you are normally a confident person doesn’t mean that you are impervious to fear. We need to look to God and hand over our fears to Him, reminding ourselves that He is with us and will never leave us.
Question
What are you most fearful of at the moment? What are you doing with that fear?
Prayer
Loving Father, thank you for understanding me so well and giving me the strength to face up to my fears. Amen

Released on 4 Sep 2026