For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. {2 Timothy 1:7}
Overcoming any fear can be a very challenging experience. Fear debilitates you. Fear can overcome you, and you can’t see a way out but just a dismal future. It cripples you and keeps you from moving forward. The Bible tells us that fear is torment. John tells us,
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” {1 John 4:18}
If God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, love, and of a sound mind, then how do we end up with an irrational fear all of a sudden? Being afraid when there’s every right to be afraid is one thing – like running away from a storm and running for cover because there’s lightning and thunder going off all around you, but irrational fear is another. If you see a car coming straight at you as you cross the street and you run away in fear, it is acceptable. Fear is actually then a good thing to have so that we keep ourselves from being harmed. But to be frozen with fear all of a sudden with no rational explanation whatsoever is something only Satan can give to us. When you can’t see your way out except to be overwhelmed by it, and it comes to torment you, that is definitely fear that we don’t want around. That is fear from the enemy of our soul who likes to torment the creation of God. This is what I used to suffer in the middle of the night. I would wake up with a sudden dread and would start to break out into a sweat believing with all of my heart that someone is in the house, or about to enter the house to hurt me. I would be paralyzed with fear. This took years to overcome but thank the Lord for His abundant mercy and grace He has taken this away from me.
See, I believe we do not really overcome the fears the enemy gives us, but rather God takes them away from us. We cannot overcome anything on our own. If we could then there would be no over the counter pills or prescriptions of all kinds of medicines out there to help us overcome our anxieties. The pharmaceutical companies would suffer if it was that easy to overcome Satan’s given fears on our own. Satan is a spirit and his power over us is a spirit. Unless you have power over the spirit of the enemy and the principalities of this world, you cannot win. You cannot do it on your own. You can talk yourself out of it all you like. Have self-talks, therapy is good too but very expensive and a lot of people have found it did not work for them. Whatever method you choose to heal yourself, it will probably not work. Fear that is of the enemy is not an easy thing to overcome. As a matter of fact, I don’t think anyone can overcome it at all without the help of God. The Bible tells us that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. {James 1:17} All good things come from God. All the glory belongs to Him. You cannot overcome anything in this life without God helping you. That’s why it is crucial to look to Jesus Christ for any fears we have, because He overcame the principalities of this world. He is the One, the only one, who has the power over Satan and the demonic spirits of this world to crush them and to eliminate their powers over us.
How did I overcome that spirit of fear that came over me in the middle of the night? I didn’t. I couldn’t do it on my own. But God did it for me. I overcame through loving God. I did not stop coming to Him and talking to Him and loving Him. I did not give up on Him and stop believing in Him just because I couldn’t heal myself of my fears, or it wouldn’t go away on it’s own. I continued to talk to Him and love Him. The more I came to the Lord the more He came to me and filled me with His love. One night the fear was gone. I saw a vision of God as a Lion outside my house sitting on guard. It was so real that I thought to myself, “There are lions in this area?” The lion was huge and did not look one bit scared at all. He just sat there relaxed, watching. Then the voice of the Lord came to me in my heart and He said to me, “It’s Me.” My heart leaped. I was so happy! He was there watching outside my house. Why of course, He is after all the Lion of Judah! Since then, whenever I worry about anyone coming to hurt me or someone coming into the house to hurt me, I just tune into the Lord and He comes to me and reminds me that He’s outside on guard keeping me safe. I see Him as a lion keeping watch. I don’t fear anymore.
It’s definitely not a fun thing to be in fear. I still suffer my own fears sometimes since Satan is still out there creating havoc in everyone’s life. But I am learning that when fear comes, all I need to do is tune into Jesus Christ and love Him. I talk to Him and I tell Him how much I love Him and how much I appreciate Him in my life. I let Him know in my heart that I am afraid and I ask Him to help me resist that fear. Then I focus on Him instead of my fears. I focus on Him by talking to Him and thanking Him and loving Him in my heart and in my mind. I also thank Him for taking away my fear. I also thank Him for giving it to me, believe it or not. Without my fears I wouldn’t come to Him as often as I would. My fears bring me to the Lord, so in a way it’s a blessing in disguise. Because of this I’m experiencing less and less fear in my life these days. I am experiencing more and more of His peace. It is true what John the Beloved stated in his writing that there is no fear in love. The more I love Jesus, the more I set my heart to love Him, the less my fears overwhelm me. His love fills my heart and takes my fears away. When I am fully trusting in His love for me, I am able to go through whatever fear I have. Yes, I also rebuke Satan and the spirit of fear away and they do leave me too. But there are times when they don’t listen to me and I feel like I’m butting heads with them. I don’t let that discourage me though, because all I need to do is tune in my mind and call on the Lord. I see Him in my mind and feel Him in my heart and He tells me, “Ignore him and love Me.” So I do. I ignore Satan and focus on loving and worshipping the Lord. Sometimes I sing a song to the Lord. Again and again this has worked for me. Loving the Lord and singing to Him makes Satan go away. My fears dissipate and I can feel peace in my heart again. The Lord says to us,
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” {John 16:33}
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” {John 14:27}
“I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” {John 14:18}
Prayer
Father, so many are suffering terrible fears today. Whether they proceeded from past terrible experiences or from out of nowhere, everywhere today people are being overcome by irrational fears. The enemy of our soul is definitely at work to torment us, but thank You Lord Jesus because You have overcome him at the cross. Thank You, Savior that with You on our side all things are possible for those who believe in You. There is nothing that Satan can attack us with that You cannot overcome for us. Thank You, Jesus for overcoming for us and loving us so much.
Help us then Lord Jesus to look to You today and to find our hope and help in You. You are here to save us and help us and comfort us. Help us to know what to do Lord Jesus whenever we are overcome by irrational fear and fears that the enemy of our soul throws at us. Please Savior give us wisdom what to do, show us how to talk to You and love You and overcome all these fears that torment us. I ask for all of these things Father, in Your most wonderful and precious name, Jesus. Thank You, Father. Amen.
