I recently learned something. 
Oh, I can just hear someone out there thinking, “Finally. The boy finally learned something. Will wonders never cease?”
But moving on from there, I heard another pastor make this statement.  I must tell you in advance that I have not verified this, but it is something to think about. My friend said that the phrase “fear not” is found 365 times in the Bible.  It may be translated: “Be not afraid;” “Do not fear;” or “Do not be afraid.” But the point is this: It is found one time for every day of the year.  I think that is really cool.  God tells us not to fear once for every day of the year. 
By the way, I know it is leap year, and we have an extra day this year.  But when the man told me about this phenomenon, he said with a twinkle in his eye, “Since there is an extra day this year you are allowed to fear one time, but your day for that was yesterday, so it’s now out of the way.” 
Think with me about the times that God said to his children, “Fear not.”  He told Mary through the angel not to fear just before he told her she was going to have a baby. He told the shepherd not to fear when he announced the birth of that baby.  He told Abram not to fear as he promised to be with him.  He told the children of Israel not to fear on more occasions that you can imagine.
And if you could hear God’s voice, to you it would be the same: “Fear not.”  Keep in mind that the reason God told these folks not to fear is that they were afraid. There were circumstances in life that cause them to be fearful.  They were facing giants and troubles and discouragement that cause them to fear. But God said over and over, “Fear not!”
I do not know what you may be facing in your life.  But God says to you, “Fear not.”  That does not mean that you take an unrealistic view of life. But it does mean that you trust the Lord to carry you through whatever life brings at you.  You know that he is with you and that he will protect you.  You are confident in his care. 
I repeat: I do not know what you may be facing in life. But God is with you. He will never leave you. So I say with confidence what I believe he would say:  “Fear not.”