The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1
The spirit of fear has been a mainstay of my life. When I look back through the years, I see that fear has been there in the midst of my celebrations and in the darkest of times.
The spirit of fear has taunted me when I tried to move forward, told me lies about who God created me to be, and tricked me out of believing God’s messages of hope for my life.
But God did not create us with a spirit of fear.
And although there are times when we become afraid, fear should have no permanent place in our lives –
“Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7
Fear is an internal struggle that we all face, but God has given us a way out.
In her book The Perfect You, Dr. Caroline Leaf, a communication pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist, explains how the influences of fear are expressed in our lives. Fear elusively takes on other forms such as anger, bitterness, rage, worry, jealously, unforgiveness, etc.
Plainly stated, fear is a tormentor that God never intended to be a part of our lives.
From the beginning God wanted us to trust Him and to believe what He said.
God wanted Adam to trust that He had had only the best intentions toward him when He told Adam not to eat from the tree. God knew that as soon as Adam doubted Him and listened to a foreign voice, that voice would become the controlling force of Adam’s life.
Does fear control you? Are you anxious most of the time? Do you find yourself getting angry easily or being unable to forgive? Do you often feel lonely or depressed about your life and your future?
We all struggle with feelings of doubt and uncertainty.
It is in these times that we have to choose in whom we will believe.
God is more powerful than fear. Once you settle that in your heart and allow the Word of God and the Spirit of God to help you, you will discover that fear has no lasting place in you.
The choice is yours. Will you continue to listen to the voices that bring promises of success, and happiness but are in fact empty and unfulfilling?
Or will you turn back to the One who made you? God is the One who loves you and knows you and has the perfect plan for your life; A life without strife or contention or envy and fear.
He’s waiting for you, with arms wide open. He is the One who flows against the current. And although His ways and thoughts may seem foreign to you at first, if you wait patiently in His love, He will become the living water that sustains you.
Walk it out!
Father, as we turn back to you surrendering all of the stuff that we have gathered from this world that You did not give to us, help us to not be afraid. Today we submit our lives and our wills to Yours, because we trust that You have only our best interest in mind, We push aside the voices that tell us that we are not good enough and instead reach for Your acceptance, Your joy, and the peace that You have given us and no man can take away. In Jesus’ name. Amen