Fear: The Battle of the Mind

I’m just a big chicken! 

What am I afraid of? ….depends on the day.

Once fear takes hold, it free falls and mingles with every thought…every word…every situation.

I have discovered fear is a battle of the mind.

Most of my fears never come to pass. But, I build them up in my mind and they become an ogre hiding under the bed.

I do mental gymnastics to avoid anything that conjures up my fear’s reality. I avoid situations. Build walls around me. Make excuses. I pretend. Bring along a friend. I spiritualize.

I do whatever it takes to keep fear hidden.

Even stop living.

Fear is always bigger when we don't face it. Not talking about it causes the fear to grow in size, sprout claws and sharp fangs, enlarging its power over us.

 

Fear holds us captive with invisible chains that encircle and squeeze so our life is crippled. We cannot embrace or enjoy life when fear has tightened its grip.

It is only through the power of Jesus Christ that the chains are loosed.

Remembering that Perfect Love—God—casts out fear, will help us to know who is on our side. He is the one that fights the battle for us. The darkness of fear is exposed in His Light as the Truth sets us free from the powers that hold us captive.

I am not an expert on the subject of fear. I only know I have grappled with it for years. Sometimes it was winning. And others I gained glimpses into what was really going on to understand my reaction.

I do know I have wanted to understand more of what “perfect love casting out fear” means in my everyday life—to my fears—to my battles. Someone once said that fear is the absence of God. Something to think about.

God IS Love. So, He is the One who chases away fear. He is already victorious through the battle on the cross. His presence brings peace, because His name is Peace.

So, if I am fearful, I know I need more of Him. Lloyd John Oglivie says,

“We can’t evict fear on our own. Only Christ can do that. The secret is to focus on Him and not on our fears.”  

~ Facing the Future Without Fear (pg 47)

When we see God as Mighty, All powerful, Able…His power overrules our fear. And, the way we discover who God is, is to delve into His word and see how He met the needs of those who faced fears. He will meet us there and show us more about Himself.

Is fear reigning in your life? Do you need more of Him?

I would love to hear how He is delivering you,

 

Jeanne

 

* Lloyd John Oglivie's book is out of print but can be found on Amazon.com

 

 

Battle Stations

A soldier on the front line is always on alert—they are ready for an attack—prepared with equipment and survival skills they work as a well trained team to face whatever the enemy launches at them.

In the same way, we as Christians are in the battle trenches of spiritual warfare. When we belong to God we face a daily enemy who seeks to thwart everything that God does. The enemy has lost us to the Light of the World, but this doesn’t stop him from trying to disrupt God’s purposes. The enemy will try his best to discourage and distract us from living as God intends…abundantly and with effectiveness.

As we discover what Scripture says about our enemy and about God, the One who is already victorious over Satan.  We learn that God has a plan for us and everything that happens to us, Romans 8:28 says, will work for our good. But the enemy will try to take those same things and work them for his own purposes—Ephesians 6:12 says he schemes against us. So it is important to see and react to things with God’s perspective with the knowledge of His working it all for good so that we don’t fall prey to the enemy’s tactic of discouragement.

We get weary from the stuff that goes on in our lives—physically and spiritually. But we will discover that there are things that we can do in the midst of the battles that will help us turn our eyes to the Lord and experience His deliverance. And, we will see the enemy routed by God’s mighty power.

Look at Ephesians 6:11-12 – Stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood…but against spiritual forces. 

Look at Jeremiah 29:11 – He (God) knows the plans He has for us… 

Look at Romans 8:28 – He (God) causes ALL things to work together for good...

Battles are part of the Christian’s walk because we are treading in the spiritual realm. We belong to God and the enemy is not happy about it. So he will do anything to thwart God’s work through deception, discouragement and distraction.

Just like those soldiers on the frontlines, we need to work together as a team to encourage and hold one another up, especially when facing intense battles. We have the weapons. We have the survival skills. And we have a Victor in Jesus Christ—who won the battle on Calvary’s cross.

Next time, we will take a look at some sources of our battles….

Until then, Stand Firm!!

Jeanne

* This is an excerpt from theBible study called, Battle Worn, Battle Weary: Finding Victory in Surrender