Fear

I was doing some catching up with a few friends. One of my friends was facing some trouble with some decisions he was being forced to make. I expected to see a ton of replies and comments. Not the case. There was only one. Hit it right on the head. Nothing more to say in my opinion beyond these words……”Any of our life we fear is and area we still own. We’ve not yet put it under the cross. 1 John 4:18″

Wow! What more was there to say?

From there I was taken back to a book I read a few months ago by Max Lucado “Imagine Your Life Without Fear.” I was frantically looking over notes from church because that comment was yelling at me screaming “Does this ring a bell Amanda?” I ran into this question a few months ago and guess I didn’t fully get it then so here is my next shot at it.

So, lets get down to it. What is FEAR? We all have things we are afraid of. However, what does FEAR boil down to? Fear at its center is simply a perceived loss of control. FEAR corrodes our confidence in God’s goodness and raises questions about God’s character. Im taken back to the book of Matthew when the disciples were on a boat with Jesus and a huge storm came about and they questioned whether or not God even cared about them (Matthew 8:25) In the midst of fear a swarm of doubts, anger-stirring doubts are released and we turn into “CONTROL FREAKS”

Right on! Im a huge CONTROL FREAK. When we feel like we are loosing that control in an area we start reaching into other areas of our lives that we can control. Examples are dieting, cleaning, washing etc. This is what we get comfortable with and we allow this to start to shape our lives and “SAFETY” becomes our God and we start to worship a risk free life. We stand still where we are safe or comfortable. Our God is not a God of constant stand still and get comfortable and wade through life resenting and judging others who are always on the “GO” with God. Our God is a God of “GO!”

Wow! Do you see the escalade here and how far FEAR pull us from God. You can always tell the size of your God by looking at the size of your worry list. The longer the list the smaller your God. Also, the more you fear, try to controll and pull further from God.

Fear itself is not a sin. I have a fear of spiders. Is that bad? I dont think so. However, I just explained how fear in life leads to sin and a distant relationship with our Savior and starts to define and shape our identity.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear.”

So, how do we deal with this and break free from it so we can “GO” with God instead of staying in our fear filled comfortable box?

The answer is in 1 Peter 5:8-9. Be self controlled and alert. The devil knows our weakness and prowles around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. We must TRUST Jesus came to us HOPE and when that fear starts to settle in your life we need to replace it with God’s promise to redeem and make new again. Got on your knees surrender it to God and pick up our cross and “GO” with God. If you feel the need to let your cross down and pick the fear up again get back on your knees and pray and confess His promise aloud and pick your cross back up. Carry your cross not your fear and keep on going. Remember 2 Peter 2:19 “….for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him (or controls him). Don’t let your fear define you or control you.