Recently I’ve noticed when waves of fearful thinking start pummeling me I can actually physically feel the effects. My stomach starts to turn, my chest tightens and breath gets shallow, my throat feels constricted and my mind begins running wild. It’s uncomfortable and I don’t like it. Those feelings can completely hijack me if I don’t get a hold of myself.
Having been a church going Christian for most of my life, I have certainly heard the verses about fear many times. We are told that we have not been given a "spirit" of fear, but I had always placed the meaning of that word spirit to be more like a feeling of fear, or a state of fearfulness. So, big light bulb moment…I began thinking that this spirit of Fear is actually an operative of the Enemy (who comes to Rob us of life, Steal our hope, joy and peace and Destroy our families, our health our potential, our testimony, our marriages, etc.) “Fear” is not just an emotion. Fear is the name of this criminal, evil spirit. Fear is a liar. He whispers hopelessness and worry, destruction and failure. He speaks negativity into whatever circumstance we are facing. He yells at us so that we have difficulty hearing the words of Truth that we have planted deep within our hearts and minds. He is unrelenting. …UNTIL we turn on the LIGHT OF TRUTH and like a cockroach he scurries away because he can’t stand the LIGHT and his message cannot stand up in the LIGHT.
The Perfect Love of God leaves Fear without power. His perfect, complete and unfailing love casts out the spirit Fear. It makes Fear flee. When I remember that God has a plan for me… When I focus on the fact that God loves me more than I can understand and I begin to thank him and praise his holy name, then Fear, that evil operative is cast out and has no power to make me uncertain, uneasy or unsettled.
It happened one day that I was sitting down with my journal about to unload my thoughts and feelings about some circumstances that were making me feel anxious. Those fearful waves were ramping up and I could recognize those physical signs that I was about to be hijacked. At the top of the journal page, in bold letters I wrote “What I know to be True”, then line by line I began to write down the things that God had said and the promises that have been made in His word that I could apply to my problem. By the time I got to the bottom of the page my fears and anxiety were calmed and my body felt relaxed and at peace. I was reminded of the One who is in control and able. It is a simple and effective strategy that I have come to rely on over and again.
Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace the one whose mind is stayed (focused, parked) on Your Word.”
If you are feeling fearful, please reach out for help. If you have no one, I'm here.
#fear #lies #perfectlove #truth #perfectpeace #scatteringtheseeds #whenyouareafraid #reachoutforhelp
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