Demo Track
FEAR NOT*
"I loved the message this song sends to people (fear none and trust God). I would love to hear more songs like this being played on the radio -- not only is it inspirational but it lets people dream again). The melody was graceful. I love this song! i give this song a rating of 10/10!”
There's a reason why the command to "fear not" is found in the Bible nearly 120 times: it's hard for most of us to get the fact that God really does love us -- loves me -- and wants me to focus my attention on Him rather than on what I fear.
This song assumes the gentle voice of Jesus, assuring us that He's fully aware of our fragile spirits (BTW, if you imagine this doesn't mean you, guess again) and He wants desperately for us to learn and believe that "if not a sparrow leaves the sky without my knowing why, then how much more will I remember you?"
Listen to a sample:
(Arranged and Performed by Danny Mitchell, Nashville.)
The Backstory
When I was a little guy, my parents built a small lake cottage (with an outhouse) on a bee-infested lot outside of Milwaukee, my home town. My dad built a pier where he'd fish and watch my sister -- who I swear was born with gills -- swim across the lake and back. Me? I always stayed inside the pier; I didn't know how to swim and didn't care to try, so I was content to play by myself while my older brother and sister showed off.
One day I was on the pier with Dad when he suddenly shoved me over the edge into water about a foot over my 8-year-old head. All I could do was sputter and spit as I looked up, puzzled, at my dad--still on the pier and calmly watching my desperate struggle for life itself. Bobbing back-and-forth to the surface like a cork, I paddled like a madman to catch air before going back down, Now panicking, I looked up... and HE WAS GONE! What?
Suddenly I felt something below me. As I got some air and my bearings I realized that Dad's hands were underneath me just in case. He knew I could swim if I would only try. But he also knew I had to find that out for myself. And he knew the struggle would build the self-confidence that I could handle much more. That knowledge became crucial only a few years later when Dad succumbed to cancer.
Fast forward several decades. A dear friend, John, was building a recording studio and offered me space in the building to use as an office. His studio had an old upright piano where I'd play with different chord patterns. As I did, I got an idea for a song to express what I felt God wanted me to know when I was drowning in fear.
The Bible repeats the phrase, "fear not," for a good reason. Even our greatest biblical heroes of faith had to be reminded over and over that fear needn't paralyze them. As my dad had so many years before, and as I do now with my own kids, God patiently but firmly reminds us that He is there, that He is able, that He loves us and that we will overcome whatever it is we're facing when we remember His faithfulness.
It may sound simple, Even childish. But it's true.
This song did just that for me. Maybe it can do the same for you.
Dave