It is written in 1 John 4:18-19, There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.  He that feareth is not made perfect in love.  We love Him, because He first loved us.  Fear is the number one weapon the devil uses against us. And you would think we would wise up, seeing we have the Holy Bible that tells us that our heavenly Father loves us and will never leave or forsake us, but yet….
 You know, I hear the word “but” from “believers” far too often.  Someone will ask for prayer about something, and I’ll give them the scriptures concerning the promise covering their need, and ninety nine times out of a hundred, they will respond, “Yes, but….”  But WHAT?  As it says in Numbers 23:19, God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?  So what is the problem?  fear, plain and simple.  Here we could take a lesson from a small child.  Does a child worry where their next meal is coming from, or if they will have a place to live?  Does a child worry about how the bills are going to be paid?  No, because that never enters their mind.  They haven’t learned fear yet. 
 Fear is not an instinct we are born with, it is a learned response.  You can stand a small child up on a table and tell them to fall into Daddy’s arms, and they will do it, because they know Daddy will catch them.  Why? Because perfect love is perfect trust, and there is no fear in love.  But let Daddy fail to catch that child a few times, and pretty soon that child will be afraid to fall off the table, because the trust has been broken.  If you raise a child to sleep alone in a dark room, he or she will sleep just fine.  But if you raise one, saying, Better watch out, there are monsters under the bed that will come out in the dark and get you, then that child will be afraid and want to sleep with a light on.  You have instilled fear into that child that will stay with them the rest of their life if something is not done to remove that fear.  

It’s hard to defeat an enemy you can’t see.  It doesn’t mean you can’t defeat him, though, you just have to know where he is hiding.  And the light of God’s Word reveals his hiding place; our mind.  Think of it like a computer virus, hidden deep in your hard drive in a folder which looks legitimate, but it contains material that doesn’t belong there.  Your antivirus program goes through your hard drive and looking for things that don’t compare with the legitimate image.  Until you realize “fear” is not part of your original image that God made you with, you can’t remove it and operate like you should.  Today we’re exposing fear, so it may be removed.
 I propose to you that many grown “believers” are still afraid of the “monsters under the bed”, even though they have never actually seen one of them.  Sadly, many don’t really want to deal with the “monsters under the bed” by turning the light upon them.  It’s easier to be scared than to know the truth, because it takes some effort to know the truth.  Tell me, if the “monsters” really exist, where they go during the daylight?  You see, light exposes the stuff you can’t see in the dark, but the light clearly reveals there is really nothing to fear under the bed after all.  People have learned to fear when something goes “bump” in the night.  They have learned to fear the doctor’s report, or the threat of layoff at work, or a pile of overdue bills.  All the devil has to do is say “BOO!” and people jump for fear.  He must really enjoy how easily we “believers” scare.
Years ago we were going through some real hard financial times, and fear was working overtime on my mind.  I was afraid we would lose our home and all we had worked for, then one day the Lord asked me why I was afraid.  I said some worthless trash about being afraid we were going to lose everything.  The Lord said, What have you lost?  Uhhhh….nothing Lord.  Then what are you afraid of?  What is the worst thing that can happen to you?  I said, well, the worst that can happen is that I die.  He said, Then you will be with Me, so far you’ve won.  Go on.  Well, we could lose our home.  He said, I took you out of your little home and gave you one three times bigger when there was no way in the natural realm you could afford it.  If I’m big enough to do that, don’t you think I’m big enough to keep you and increase you?   Yes, but….BUT WHAT??? HAVE  I EVER FORSAKEN YOU?  Well, no…but..what if You did?  Son, you need to get rid of that “what if” and replace it with My perfect love, and you’ll never fear again.
That was the day I cast fear out on its ear, though it was begging and pleading to stay. At first, it looked like nothing in the natural was changing at all.  Fear rang my doorbell at all hours of the day and night, but I stopped going to the door.  When torment would stick its head up, I bashed it in with Word of God.  Yes, it took some effort on my part, but as I continued to apply the Word of God to the things I feared, I found that fear was more afraid of me that I was of it.  Things started changing for the better.  I started sleeping better instead of laying awake worrying about “what if…”.  Looking back, I had been afraid of empty threats and stuff that had not even happened.  You might say I had more faith in the devil’s ability to hurt me than I had in God to deliver me.  Boy, how stupid can you get?  I knew God’s Word, but it’s easy to get in that mode, a little fear here, a little worry there, and before you know it, you’re living your whole life in fear.  Then you wake up in the morning and there is absolutely nothing to look forward to anymore.   I’ve been there, and it’s no fun.  Maybe you’re there right now. Ready for help?
 Let me tell you, it’s time for you to shine the light under the bed and see for yourself there are really no monsters under there.  It’s time to face the truth that God is bigger than your need.  It’s time to realize you have nothing to fear but fear itself, and fear is nothing but “False Evidence Appearing Real”.  Yes, it looks real, but it’s really a lie. The only truth out there is that God loves you and will never leave or forsake you.  But until you learn to trust in His love, you will always live in fear.  And as we know, fear has torment.  If you’re tired of the torment, tired of living with no joy in your life, then you’ve come to the place where God can help you, because until you’re desperate for things to be right, you’ll be satisfied to live in fear.  Shine the light of God’s Truth on your symptoms of sickness and watch them flee.  And while you’re at it, shine the light of His Word on your other fears, whatever they are, and they will flee too.
It is written in James 4:7; Submit yourselves therefore unto God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  There are two parts for you to do here: number one, submit yourself unto God, and BELLIEVE in His perfect love that will never fail you. And do number two on the devil by resisting him.  And he will flee from you.  That’s God’s promise to you.  No more monsters under the bed.