“Fear is anticipation of evil”. – Dallas Willard
Let those words sink in. Read them again.
At first glance I didn’t think too long on this quote. But it has settled deeply into my soul. I’ve been running through my various ‘fearful’ scenarios- the moments that fear is likely to surface for me, and in some way I can connect them back to anticipating evil.
Last year I read these words from Willard, “beauty is God’s goodness made manifest to the senses.” They ended up setting the tone for my series. (Read here.) If you knew my husband, you would know that he would be so very excited that I am quoting Willard. Sliding that in there to let him know I have indeed been paying close attention all these years.
But back to this quote.
Sometimes when I am trying to figure out what something means, I state the opposite. So if fear is anticipating evil, then to not have fear would mean that we are anticipating goodness.
We would anticipate protection and provision. We would anticipate kindness. We would anticipate being known and seen and valued. We would anticipate redemption and restoration.
We would anticipate a perfect love.
Perfect love drives out fear. (Day 1)
Evil has no place in the presence of perfect love.
This quote and this verse together give me a fuller picture of what no fear might mean. When I am anticipating evil, I am in some way turning away from perfect love. When I turn away from love, fear gains ground.
When feelings of fear arise, I can become more aware. Will I choose to lean into love? Bringing my fear and my anxiety to Him and letting his love drive out fear. Or will I listen to the seductive whisper of evil that tells me God is holding out on me, that he doesn’t have my best interest at heart. As we grow in our awareness, we grow in the possibility for change.
I leave you with this question to ponder over the weekend:
What would it mean for you to anticipate goodness? What would that look like in your life right now?
I am participating in Write 31 Days. Click right here to see all the amazing topics! I am writing on 31 Beauty Full Days. You can read the intro post here. And you can also always click on the button on the sidebar to see all posts in the series.
Wow, that is heavy. I’m going to be chewing on this post for a while!
Love this! Love that we don’t just stop anticipating fear, but start anticipating love, goodness and of course, the presence of God! Perfect love casts out all fear.
Interesting that you said the whisper of evil is seductive … why in the world would we flirt with something like that … fear of bad things … how does that become seductive? But in this crooked world–it does.To NOT fear–the anticipation of goodness. Clever. Hits home.
Great question! I think I do anticipate evil –just never thought of it like that. I need to change my thinking!
Before you even instructed, I read it twice. It is a powerful quote and much needed TODAY. Thank you Melanie. Great two days. 😉
Melanie, my dear and wise friend,
YES, the anticipation of GOODNESS is magnificent and drives out fear. Thank you for sharing what God (via Willard/Gillgrist) has put on you heart.
Our first two posts have nearly mirrored each other. I look forward to 29 more in this journey.
🙂
I’m reading a book right now about this very thing, leaning into God, and trusting in His goodness and Love. Soo good!
Wow!
That quote really grabbed at me and I found myself re-reading it.
I love the insights you shared and how you worked through what it looks like to anticipate goodness.
“We would anticipate protection and provision. We would anticipate kindness. We would anticipate being known and seen and valued. We would anticipate redemption and restoration.
We would anticipate a perfect love.”
Thank you for sharing such an encouraging post!
Melanie, I also wanted to let you know that I will be featuring this post on my blog tomorrow. Please feel free to stop by and grab my button. 🙂
This is such an excellent question! How often do we fail to anticipate goodness–both from our heavenly Father and from our fellow men? The next time I’m fearing something, I’ll remember this!