So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
– Galatians 4:7
Before I sat down to write this, I had been contemplating what topic to write about for hours. It dawned on me. I share these motivational posts telling others not to fear; that God in fact says not to fear, and that we are always protected by Him. I couldn’t help but laugh when God revealed my hypocrisy to me. Okay, I get it. I’m as bad as anyone. Fallible. Imperfect. Human.
As far back as I can remember, I have been a slave to fear. A fear of the unknown was absolutely crippling to me. So crippling, in fact, I often tend to move backward instead of forward, out of fear that I’m making the wrong choices. I suppose I also figure, on some level, if I revisit the past, I know what to expect. That provides an odd sense of comfort to me. But, in doing this, I am limiting God’s work in me. If I keep moving backward, how do I ever expect Him to move me forward? Especially when I’m fighting Him every step of the way! What a revelation this has been to me.
I’ve heard it said that the evil one uses our biggest fears to distance us from God. Us being close to God is the biggest threat to his winning the battle. We all know that he loses in the end, but he’s too arrogant to admit defeat. So he continues to battle for souls; but if he knows he can’t win our souls, he knows he can at least provide distractions and roadblocks to our closeness with our Father. And what better way to do that than to maximize our already large sense of fear?
What is fear, anyway? Why is it so powerful? It’s truly a tool of the devil. He knows what we fear most and he knows exactly how to capitalize on that. He’s crafty – don’t sell him short. Oh, he’s evil. Wretched, for sure. But he is very smart. By the grace of God, we have something he doesn’t have. We have the Holy Spirit within us. We can only tap into the benefits of His presence if we actually spend time in His presence.
Christian, there are many things we can be afraid of. We can fear the future, the unknown, taking risks, potential catastrophes; but is it just in vain? I believe it is. But the problem is, it feels so real in the moment. Doesn’t it? I mean, fear literally has the power to cripple us. But, I’ve got great news! Fear only has the power to cripple us if we let it. Satan doesn’t have any power over us that we don’t give him. I’ll say that again.
“Satan doesn’t have any power over us that we don’t give him.”
Just like it’s been said that you have the power to control your response to anger, you have the power to control the amount of power he receives from you. And you have the power to control your reaction to his attacks on you. Some of us feel like we are always fighting a battle. These are the people God has something wonderful in store for. Why else would the evil one be fighting so hard against you if God didn’t have amazing plans for you? He knows that. He knows what’s going on and he wants to keep you from doing any good for God’s kingdom. But he can’t if you don’t let him.
But how do you reclaim the power? Here’s a few practical tips to help you if you feel the devil is picking on you.
- Spend time in the Word. That’s number one for sure. When describing putting on the whole armor of God, Ephesians 6:17 tells us that God’s Word is our only weapon against the schemes of the evil one. And it’s where we should first turn. Ephesians 6:17 …and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. How did Jesus resist the devil’s temptations? He quoted scripture. He didn’t just know the scriptures, He lived it. What an example for us, believer!
- Pray, pray, pray! In the same chapter of Ephesians, we learn that prayer is crucial for fighting the evil one. Ephesians 6:18 …praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. Jesus prayed more in His short lifetime than we will ever make time to pray, I’m sure. Let that be an example to you; to all of us.
- Stay alert. Be watchful, keep your eyes open (literally and figuratively) to what’s happening in your life. Don’t be cold and distant, but discerning of all circumstances and communications. Not everyone who enters our life is there to increase our faith. Many are there to pull us away from our faith; to pull us away from God. Ephesians 6:18 (cont’d) …To that end, keep alert with all perseverance…
- And my final addition: Meditate. Meditation is a practice that was so prevalent in biblical times, they didn’t even think to mention how to do it in the Bible. People just knew. For us, eastern meditation has kind of taken over in our impression of what meditation is supposed to be. But, meditation from eastern religions is focused on the self. There is nothing biblical about that. True meditation is communication with God, immersing ourselves in the Holy Spirit and all His wisdom and power; not attempting to pull out any wisdom or power from ourselves. Because we know true power lies within God’s hands.
I’ve made a decision today that when I am faced with fear, specifically fear of the unknown future, I will resort to these four steps. I will also be keeping a journal for a couple weeks to record my experience with this. I urge you to do the same. When we can see on paper what progress we’ve made, it’s incredibly motivating to keep it going.
I pray you would tap into the strength of the Holy Spirit inside you and conquer your fears. Reclaim the power from the evil one. You’re not meant to do this alone – none of us are. So, if you need someone in this journey, feel free to use my contact page. I don’t need any earthly reward for being there for my brothers and sisters in Christ. So please don’t hesitate to send that message if you need to.
Much Love,
Stephanie Lynn
Side Note: There are many memes floating around social media saying “do not fear” is written in the Bible 365 times (one for each day). While that’s cute, it’s just not true. In the ESV, 66 verses mention not fearing. While in the KJV, merely 37 verses mention it. Please don’t share these. This can easily be proven false and discredit our devotion to the truth! We don’t have to manipulate to win believers for Christ. He is powerful enough on His own!
