Mike Taylor

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Tag: Fear

  • Is God always with me?

    What does it really mean for God to be with you?

    Scripture says that God is always present.

    Psalm 139:8 says, “If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!”

    But Scripture also says multiple times that God will never leave us or forsake us.

    Jesus said in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

    Hebrews 13:5 reminds us of this: ‘…God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” 

    This line is echoing God’s promise in Deuteronomy 31:6 to never leave or forsake his people.

    In that sense, God isn’t just present, he’s also with those who follow Jesus.

    In Isaiah 41:10, God says, “fear not, for I am with you.”

    Joshua 1:9 says, “the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

    Psalm 23:4 says, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

    1 Corinthians 3:16 tells us that we are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in us. 

    Dwelling involves a conscious choice to not just be present but to also to be committed to the wellbeing of the home.

    There’s a big difference between being present with someone and being with someone.

    Being present is a matter of logistics. It involves putting yourself in the same space as someone else. God is present with everyone.

    Being with someone, on the other hand, is a matter of the heart and will. It’s a conscious choice to align with someone not just physically but also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

    Many parents are physically present with their kids but not emotionally with them.

    Sometimes, as children of God, we can find ourselves believing the same about God:

    We know that God will never leave us in the sense that he will always be present; we’re just not sure that he’s with us.

    You can’t go anywhere God isn’t.

    But then there’s another piece of God‘s character. 

    He’s on your side, wishing and willing your good in all circumstances.

    It’s often very difficult to see God as someone who’s rooting for us to win and willing it to be so in every moment.

    Seeing that the God of the universe is truly on your side no matter how good or bad you are gives you confidence to do the good work he’s put in front of you. 

    He’s not waiting for you to get your act together. 

    He’s waiting for you to realize that he wants to call your heart his home. 

    And he knows, of course, that once you open your heart to him, then the right actions will flow from that naturally.

    When our actions start flowing from our understanding that God is actually with us and not just around us, then the goodness we’ve been chasing starts following us instead.

  • Fear is a swindler, not a thief

    Fear can’t take anything from you – it can only tell you stories and receive what it convinces you to hand over.

    And most of the time, we give it more than we realize.

    Fear shows up any time you’re close to something meaningful. That’s not a flaw, that’s often confirmation.

    But somewhere along the way, we started treating fear like a signal to stop, instead of a sign along the way.

    There’s a moment in Moses’ story where God tells him to lead his people out of slavery. Moses is 80, unsure of himself, and afraid of public speaking. He tells God all the reasons he can’t do it—his past, his weakness, his fear.

    God doesn’t reassure him with comfort or confidence. He just basically says, “Go, I’ll be with you.”

    That’s it. No motivational speech, just a promise that he’ll be present.

    The fear didn’t leave, but Moses stopped letting it convince him to give it control.

    And that’s the shift—fear doesn’t have to go away for you to move forward, you just have to stop giving it the authority to decide what you do.

    Here’s what I’ve noticed:

    Fear is real – it’s very real. But it’s not a flaw. It’s part of being human.

    Fear grows when we give it energy—when we obsess, avoid, or try to outsmart it.

    But you don’t have to argue with fear to move forward, you just have to see it for what it is and keep going.

    Fear feeds on control. The more you try to manage every outcome, the louder it gets.

    Peace doesn’t come from having a plan, it comes when you decide that it’s okay if you don’t have one.

    Our culture says to conquer fear by mastering it. But what if you don’t need to master it? What if you just need to stop handing it the wheel?

    Fear will ask for what matters to you. But you don’t have to hand it over.

    It only takes what you give it.