By: Carole L. Haines
I was in the midst of a terrific Bible Study taking me deeper with God, when the Lord sidetracked me into a place He wanted me to explore with Him even more deeply. The Bible Study is Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, by Peter Scazzero. This is an absolutely stellar study and I highly recommend doing it. But the sidetrack that God took me on has led to a cry of the heart journey I must walk with Him alone. No one can come on this journey because it is a journey into the depths of myself. A lot of us find that a scary place, but there is much freedom to be had by taking this journey with God.
Scripture speaks of it in verses such as:
Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. (Psalm 51:6)
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
This journey has been ongoing for many years. But like many journeys, it gets to a crisis point. When I go for a walk with my husband, we often choose to walk around a Lake at one of our favorite parks. You get to a point, no matter how tired you are, that to turn back would be just as difficult as to move forward and finish. My journey is at that point. When I asked God to show me what was at my core, He revealed to me that my core is FEAR. It explains why I have felt my fear increasing a bit as the layers have been gently peeled back by Him. If Fear is my core, of course I will feel it more as I get closer to it.
I have asked the Lord to do a mighty work in me, knowing that I only have one life and two-thirds of it have been lived out of a core of fear instead of faith. Interestingly, when I shared this with a friend, she wisely said, “Yes, but the opposite of fear is not faith, it’s Love.” That made so much sense based on the Scripture passage that God has given me to meditate on as I ramp up this Journey.
“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. We love, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:18-19).
If God leads you todo so, then join me on this Journey from Fear to Love. We will be meditating on the entire fourth chapter of 1 John. Nothing is impossible with God, and I am trusting Him to do what He has always faithfully done in me in the past; bring truth into my innermost being. (Psalm 51:6) Be Blessed, Dear Believer.
hisshadowings.com 
Carole, as my spiritual sister, I am so very thankful for your heartfelt insights. I too, have experienced journeys, that once begun and trekked to somewhere beyond a turn-back point…feel overwhelming and daunting. My Lord has time and again, shown me there is always a reward, if I simply trust him and put one step in front of another. The scariest trek of my life was as a young adult…A group of us, hiked into a wilderness area (a 3-hour hike in) to experience the vistas of a gorgeous waterfall. We stayed too long, and our journey back became quite difficult and for me terrifying…as it was getting dark, and not one of us had a flashlight. It was so dark by the time we reached the last 1/4 mile of the trail, we were holding on to each other and literally feeling our way along the trail…almost crawling to avoid missteps. Once safe at our vehicles, I found myself in thankful prayer…and grateful for the journey and the bond of love and trust that was sealed between all of us who’d shared the experience. I accept your invitation to join your journey…in love.
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Amen and Wow! That’s scary. It does feel a bit like that right now. But being on my knees is where I should be. Thanks, My Sister and friend.
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