With great honesty, Paul discloses his feelings while in Macedonia. He was beset with adversaries who opposed him, problems and arguments within the church, and persecution at every turn.

We may think that fear and worries are a bad thing. Instead, could we see them as a gift from God? Perhaps we could allow our fears to reveal the truth about who we are and what we need. Fears can become opportunities for encountering Jesus, if we see them as invitations to draw close to Him. Rather than dwell upon them so that they draw us into despair and hopelessness, let’s see fear as a sign to look to Jesus for help.

The enemy seeks to use our fears and worries to draw us away from God, but God’s intention is that they become the very means that brings us to Him. As we focus on the faithful love of God, instead of the depth of our fear and troublesome circumstances, we’ll discover our faith growing and our fear shrinking. The grace and power of God working in our hearts enables us to transfer our focus from fear to faith. It all starts with being honest and choosing to give our concerns to the Lord, who is always ready to give us comfort and peace.

‘Heavenly Father, thank you that you are the God of all comfort and peace. Increase my faith as I trust you with the fear and worries that seek to consume me. Amen.’

Jesus poured out His blood for the New Covenant of grace and truth, replacing the Old Covenant letter of the law of Moses. Believers are exclusively under the New Covenant, the last will and testament of Jesus that began after the cross.