One of the biggest obstacles that many believers face today is facing fear.
I think Joyce Meyer got it right when she wrote the book ‘Do It Afraid.’ Often, in life that is exactly what we must do, do it afraid.
Weekly we get emails from people wanting us to ask God to remove fear and fearful situations from their lives. While we can ask that, I believe the word of God shows us what we are to do amid fear and how God intends for us to overcome fear.
Isaiah 41:10 in the Amplified says: ‘Fear not, there is nothing to fear, for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My, victorious, right hand of rightness and justice.
I love what He says, ‘fear not, for there is nothing to fear.’
The Bible clearly tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear (and if God has not given it to us, it doesn’t belong to us) but a spirit of power, love and a sound mind. There is nothing to fear, God has replaced fear with power, you have the power over fear.
He goes on to say, ‘I AM YOUR GOD.’
Enough said, the Bible says, ‘if God be with us, who can be against us.’ It says, ‘God will deliver us from ALL afflictions.’ On and on the Bible, tells us what God will do for His people, there is no need to fear.
Then He tells us the part we need to remember. He doesn’t say ‘I will remove the fear from your midst. No, He says ‘I will strengthen you and harden you to difficulties.’ In other words, He will do such a work in you and strengthen you to such a degree that when fear comes, any fear, you will be able to stand firm, look it in the eye and tell it who your God is and who you are in Him and tell it to go and it will, it must obey your words.
God doesn’t always remove the difficulties or fears out of our lives, many times and most times, He will strengthen us to withstand them with a victorious outcome. Just like you, I would prefer that He move every bad situation out of my life, however, I have learned most of what I have learned through challenges in my life.
If God removed everything that is coming against us, we would never grow, and we would never learn to overcome obstacles. Think about it, aren’t there some things in your life that were once difficult to deal with and now you can overcome them with ease? That’s because God strengthened you to the difficulty of it and you overcome it with victory.
We allow fear in our lives, and when that fear comes it can show us an area that needs work. God doesn’t want or intend for any fear to dominate us. Once that fear is dealt with, then the enemy will have a hard time bothering you in that area ever again.
God HAS NOT given you fear, He GAVE YOU power, love and a sound mind.
I remember a little song we used to sing when I was little – it said, ‘Going on a bear hunt, all right, let’s go, I see a huge mountain, can’t go over it, can’t go under it, gotta go through it.’ I often think of that song with situations with God, in my own life, there have been many things that I couldn’t go over, or under or bypass, I simply had to walk through it.
Remember in life, God has not given you fear or torment, fear comes from the enemy. God has given you power and soundness.
If we are ever going to do anything for God, anything great, we will have to determine in our heart that nothing will stop us. We will have to take chances and have courage. We will face situations that may be very intimidating. At these times, YOU tell the fear to leave and the power of God to come. And pray that God will strengthen you to the difficulty.
The spirit of fear will always try to keep us from moving forward. Since the beginning of time the devil has tried to stop people from walking in their destiny, he doesn’t have the power to carry it out, unless we allow him to.
We must realize that one of his weapons to stop us from advancing is fear. But we have power over fear, we can overcome it. Just remember, courage is not the absence of fear, is it pressing forward while the feeling of fear is present. And that, my friend, is how we overcome.
Prayer for today: Father, I thank you that YOU have not given me fear, therefore I will NOT accept it. I receive, this day, power, love and a sound mind. In Jesus name, I will walk in power, love and a sound mind from this day forth. Amen.
