Tuesday, March 11th, 2025
These last few days God has brought me back to a phrase He gave me when I was at the turning point of my fear-filled life. I was having a conversation with God regarding my fears, and here is exactly what I had written in my journal from 5/31/2020:
God said, “Facing your fears is worshipping Me.” When we refuse to believe the lies of the enemy and go out in faith and do that thing that we know God has given us freedom to do this pleases our heavenly Father. This worship is like a sweet smelling incense to Him. Without even uttering a word we are dancing to the rhythm of our Father’s melody. Our feet and our hands become instruments of faith as a heavenly chorus arises…greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world! The cadence of our breath and the pumping of our heart carry the beat that causes the mountains to roar…You have not given me a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. With eyes, ears and mouth guarded by the truth of the Word of God even the darkness cries out…let there be light!
Choosing faith over fear is much like many other places our free will takes us. Do we choose love or hate? Forgiveness or bitterness? Patience or hurry? Peace or anger? Blessings or curses? God or any other god? Some fears are healthy and meant to keep us from harm. But the enemy has over-played his hand in this area and gets us to fear anything that will keep us from whole-heartedly pursing God and the call He has on our life.
While God has brought me much victory in my battle with fear there is still much work to be done. I spent many years hoping God would take all my fears away in an instant. While I believe He can do this, that is not the path I have walked. He doesn’t just want me to be free; He wants me to learn how to battle for my freedom and how to help others in their battle. Every time a fear-provoking lie rises up, I have a choice to make. I can believe it and make it part of my identity, or I can believe the word of God and the identity He has given me. When I choose the latter, I am worshipping God and telling Him that I will honor Him above everything else.
Final Thoughts…
Fear can be a tricky thing to identify. It masquerades as many different things. Sometimes it erupts as anger when we feel we are losing control. Sometimes it masks as depression because we think we are missing out on something or not meeting some standard. Sometimes it fuels various compulsions that have us buying, eating or watching whatever might momentarily quench its appetite. And sometimes when we go through a season when we don’t display any of these, all of a sudden the leaves change color and fall off our tree and a deeply hidden fear is exposed. 1 John 4:18 says that perfect love casts out all fear. When I feel fear I say, “God show me more of Your love so I can learn not to fear.” The battle over fear is one we will not win without God. He died so that we can be free of fear. The time is now to eradicate ALL fear from our life. Someday soon that will be my portion. How about you?