Perfect Love Casts Out Fear…Wait, Really?

Those who struggle with fear will recognize this progression: a seed thought drops into your mind, and a paint by numbers image expands in your imagination. Your brain fills in the picture with colour and grit and before you know it, you’re frozen in place. Fear leaps from the periphery into the forefront; your chest tightens and your pulse begins to race. In the face of such crippling emotion, can it be true that “Perfect Love casts out fear”, as 1 John 4:18 declares?