Fearless?

As an early teen, my father showed me the Syfy mini-series Dune and its sequel Children of Dune. For some reason, I much preferred the sequel, and still watch all 6 hours of it at least twice a year. The point of my telling you this is that the movie contains (as part of the science fiction mysticism in the plot) a phrase referred to as the "litany against fear". It goes something like this: "I will not fear. Fear is the mind killer. I will face my fear. I will let it pass through me."
Not too bad for a mantra. Then again it relies pretty heavily on inner strength, which I know is sometimes hard to come by. I have a better suggestion.
2 Timothy 1:7 reads: "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."
That's much better. When we rely on our own strength, fear is definitely a "mind killer". When facing a decision or a task, it's so easy to look at it and feel overwhelmed by fear. So many things could go wrong! It seems like every option is a bad option, causing pain or disappointment. But when we let God work in us and strengthen our spirits, things become a little bit clearer. That doesn't mean that things become easy. It's still difficult to determine what God's will is and make ourselves entrust the outcome to Him. But we have the comfort of knowing that if we really are following God's will we can do so without fear. He knows the outcome, and it fits into his plan perfectly, for our ultimate benefit.
I'm not saying that Christians are completely fearless. We live in a sinful world, and sometimes there are reasons to be afraid. We might be following God's will, but that doesn't mean everyone else will do the same. Things go awry, and we feel pain and loss. Sometimes we lose sight of the plan God has for our lives. It feels like we're surrounded by fear and pain. It's a prison that's hard to escape. Yet we can still take comfort in knowing that we should place each situation into God's hands. He is the only one capable of controlling all of our fear and letting us out of the prison we imagine for ourselves. He gives us comfort and assurance that he is always working for our good, no matter how hopeless it seems and no matter how many things could go wrong. All we have to do is ask.