For God Hath Not Given Us The Spirit Of Fear

Dear Sisters:

Today in Relief Society, we talked about fear. Sister Michele Carnohan taught the lesson. She started with a scripture found in Philippians 4:6-8.

6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

We then supplemented that by reading the NIV version of the same verses.

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

We talked about how sometimes it is nice to supplement your scripture reading with another translation to help understand difficult phrases or to add to the depth of a scripture you already love. This scripture is definitely in the latter category.

After we read and marked the scripture, we talked about some of the things in our world today that are frightening. There are many things that make us anxious and fearful. Finances, a wayward child, having to go back to work, illness, family issues, and evil are only a few of the fears that beset us.

So we again focused on how the Lord asks us to overcome those fears. In vs 6, he says, "in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." So, we are to bring our problems to him in prayer. Give him our anxiety and our fears. And in return, he promises us that "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." I also love the NIV version which says that the peace of God will "guard" your hearts and minds. I like the idea of my heart and my mind being kept and guarded by the peace of God through Christ Jesus.

We then talked about how we can help others overcome their fears. We read D&C 81:15 together.

"Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees. "

We listed the ways that we can help others:

1. Be faithful in our callings and have faith in Jesus Christ.

2. Succor (Run to or give nourishment to) the weak.

3. Lift up (Provide encouragement to those with) hands which hang down (the depressed or exhausted.)

4. Strengthen (Give courage to) those with feeble knees (knees that knock in fear and anxiety).


We discussed that sometimes, when we are overwhelmed with the difficulty of the way, we forget to give thanks for our blessings and we forget to look outside ourselves and help others. In our discussion, we decided that there are ways to help the Lord give us the "peace of God which passeth all understanding."

We can love and support one another. We can forgive ourselves and others. We can remember that we all have fears and anxieties and issues. We may not show them outwardly, but we have them. And as we strive to help each other overcome those problems and find the peace of God, we also find that peace ourselves. We also discussed that as we have needs that can be filled by our RS sisters, we must be willing to ask for help and allow others to help us so that they can find the peace of God through service.

We ended with Ephesians 4:31-32

31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Years ago, Sally Wimmer introduced me to the Mitford Series by Jan Karon. The main character in these books is an Episcopilian Priest, Father Tim Kavanaugh. I have just read through the series again and loved them just as much as I did the first time. One of the things I am reminded to do when I read about Father Tim is to pray "the prayer that never fails, 'thy will be done.'" Once I pray the prayer that never fails, I must have faith that the Lord has his hand in our lives and that He has a plan for me that I may not be able to see. When I am able to let His will be done, I am able to feel His peace.

Have a fantastic February, sisters. Get out and do your visiting teaching early this month so you can "succor the weak, lift up the hands that hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees." We love you.

Your Relief Society Presidency