Fear my friend
Fear has been my friend from since I can remember. My oldest and most dearest friend. As a young child I remember being overwhelmed and forgetful when I broke down in tears because I was afraid. I’d forget who I was, how to talk, the promises made to me to keep me secure… And so there I would stand with my head down, hair dishevelled, red cheeked and balling my eyes out. Often over something so irrational. We have all, even understandably, been in a state of this kind of fear. Maybe not as visibly. Interestingly as a believer, this feeling rarely occurs in the midst of ‘the fear’ itself. Personally, I find supernatural peace and strength in some of the scariest encounters. No, fear would rather creep in at one of two instances. This can be before encountering the object of fear, that is anticipating something that may or may not happen or alternatively, after an encounter that instils a traumatic fear response.
Fear is healthy to a degree and God placed it within us on purpose. In the natural, fear alerts us to danger and protects us from harm. In the supernatural we are called to ‘Fear the Lord’ in order to revere Him and receive His wisdom. Somewhere along the line man got it all twisted where we now worship the natural and consider God dangerous. This has found us lost, confused, dealing with several mental health issues (myself included) and not able to deal with the stresses of life which are not new under the sun. Fear, like any other emotion is meant to be a warming signal. An alert. What does one do with an alert? They trouble shoot. So, the question that should always cross your mind is, ‘To what am I being signalled or alerted to?’. The subsequent question then should be, ‘Is this something I need protection from or requires my worship?’. Then you take the steps necessary to curb the harm or give praise where it is due.
You’ll notice this whole process happens within your mind. The most powerful tool and weapon you have, depending how you use it. It can control you if you do not learn to subdue it. You are more than your mind and you are more than your emotions which are created in your mind. You do not have to let your mind tell you what to do. Again, both your mind and emotions are gifts from God and are there for your good but too much of any good thing is bad for you if you do not learn self-control, or sound judgment. So how does one gain control of their minds? Renewal. You have to fill your mind with truth, not the world’s truth. God’s truth. The world is feeding us a lot of ‘good’ things that are not God things. We’re trying things God never wanted us to because they look good and harming ourselves in the process. Only His designer manual knows what we need. Because it is there we will learn not to fear because He is with us. It is there we will learn that He will make sure everything turns out for our good. It is there we learn who He is, revere Him and receive knowledge and discernment. It is there we are trained and armoured. It is there we find ourselves, we receive clarity and become FEARLESS!
His perfect love casts out all fear. It’s never easy to say goodbye to old, trusted friends, but they can harm us if we are not careful. No matter how good either of our intentions are. We need to create boundaries to protect everyone and to be fruitful. Fear will always be in my life, but our relationship now has very healthy boundaries.
Studying Psalm 23 was instrumental when dealing with fear in my life. I leave it with you.
A psalm of David
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
