“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
(2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV)
When fear attaches to our experience, it’s hard to separate the two without intentionally doing so. Since fear is a spirit and it’s not from God, it’s worth your time to consider your triggers and where they’re coming from. Is God big enough to deliver you? Yes, He is! Is He strong enough to defend you? Yes, He is! Is He loving enough to stand with you in your mess and claim you as His own? Absolutely, yes, He is. Ask God to show you where fear is hidden in you. Go after the lie behind the fear and find the Prince of Peace there, waiting to comfort you and to lead you to new places of freedom.
Science says, “Fear is an intruder, an unnatural invader, like flesh-eating bacteria – ravaging and deforming all creation. Fear impairs our judgment, paralyzes our reason and leads us down the path of selfishness…. When fear increases, love, growth, development, and healthy thinking decrease…. When the fear center of the brain (amygdala) is activated and is not calmed, it triggers a cascade of caustic events, which ravages our bodies and brains.” (The God-Shaped Brain by Timothy R. Jennings)
Fear costs us in more ways than we know. It’s time to be ruthless with our fears so we can lay hold of our freedom.
Though we’ve many legitimate reasons for fear, we can put fear in its proper place. During the worst part of my most recent health battle, I sensed God wanted me to engage in a ZERO tolerance policy regarding fear. Even though my symptoms were scary and the unknown seem scarier still, I decided to turn my back on fear and give it virtually no room to grow in my life. I decided that if I did have a bigger health battle ahead of me, I wanted to face it with the Prince of Peace and not the spirit of fear!
I’d traveled so often on the pathway of fear that my brain had paved a four-lane superhighway to accommodate my repetitive thought process. But I learned that if I neglect that superhighway and I just stop traveling on it, my brain will eventually get rid of it and move on to accommodate my new and most consistent thoughts. It was a fierce battle at first, but eventually fear stopped being my instinctive reaction or my go-to place. For years I struggled with the fear of what-if around my health because of my inconsistent neurological issues. That particular fear is gone. Praise God.
Consider practicing a zero tolerance policy with your fears. When you’re tempted to fear, turn your back on your fears and turn your eyes upon Jesus. Ask Him for wisdom and perspective and for a promise to anchor you. Jesus is with you here. He invites you to engage your faith, to know His love, and to find fresh hope again.
Father in heaven, You are the star-breathing God, and You live in me! I refuse to live in fear because it’s not from You. By Your great power, deliver me from this fear! Take away my sense of terror, dread, and angst. Fill those places with hope and expectancy. You are greater than my fears, greater than my circumstances, and even greater than my own tendency to control and self-protect. Rise up within me so I can soar with You. Grant me a faith-miracle, Lord! In Your name I pray. Amen.
Susie Larson talks about her journey this Monday on LIFE Today. This is an excerpt from Fully Alive by Susie Larson. Copyright ©2018 by Susie Larson. Published by Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group. Used by permission.
