Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

It shall be, when you draw near to the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people, and shall tell them, “Hear, Israel, you draw near today to battle against your enemies. Don’t let your heart faint! Don’t be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them; for Yahweh your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”
Deuteronomy 20:2-4 (emphasis added)

God loves peace, gentleness, joy, love, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and self-control. God does NOT love enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, or envy. Hmmmm…. That last group sounds a lot like social media, LOL. God doesn’t want us to have anxiety (1 Corinthians 7:32). He doesn’t want us to be fearful, lose heart, panic, or have dread. Not about other people, not about circumstances, not about where the money for the bills is coming from, or how we’re going to put food on the table. These are all very real things in life. These are not sins. Thoughts and feelings and tumultuous mental spaces are not sins. God isn’t going to magically whisk them away. But He IS going to fight for us, go ahead of us, and give us victory. He will provide for your needs. He will give you the tools to handle those thoughts and feelings and tumultuous mental spaces. He will Sustain you.

His part is clear. What is our part? Ecclesiastes 11:10 says we are to “Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh; for youth and the down of life are vanity.” In ourselves, this is easier said than done. Our society wants us to fear, be worried, or be anxious about everything. Just look at the news cycle. Our society also wants us to wear trendy fashion, be thin, look a certain way, act a certain way, watch the same things, etc. Everything we say or do seems to feed into this storm of stress. In addition to that, they tell us that it is natural, normal, and unhealthy to not have them. When we’re focused on all that it is almost impossible to put it away from us.

The first thing is to realise, believe, and accept is that choice is the major determinant of these things. The first argument I’ll hear is ‘I didn’t pick this. I have a medical condition. I have a mental disorder’ or a myriad of other similar comments. Fine. If you want to believe that, stop right here. Go home. Live your best managing your condition life. But when we are in serious mortal danger, don’t we pray instead of accepting it? When we are seriously sick, don’t we pray instead of accepting it? When people in the world get injured, sick, medically unsound, don’t they go to the doctor, have operations, take medication, and try to ‘fix’ themselves. Not saying they are sub-standard or abnormal, but wishing to alter their condition to be something they can live with without pain, misery, or uncontrolled anything? Of course they do. That’s what coping mechanisms are. That’s what taking space for yourself is. That’s what mental health days are. That’s what radiation therapy is. It’s what companies like Pfizer are built on.

Every single thing that is observable in the universe can be altered. It may be beyond our means (like adding an atmosphere to Mars or controlling the radiation that emits from the Sun), but it can be altered. In the right circumstances it will be altered. Why are we any different? In fact, if we couldn’t be changed we wouldn’t have a medical profession, research, or half the technology we have created. But of course for us, the deal is that we can only alter so much. We are only capable of so much. We have limitations. But one of the limitations we do NOT have is our imagination. Our mental faculties. We can choose our mood. We can choose our thought patterns — not the ones that assail us due to advertising, entertainment, other people’s words, or random things that slap up against the walls of our minds. But we can choose what we think on consistently. Things we accept as worthy of thought and things we reject because they are not thoughts for us. We have a huge amount of control of our mental landscape.

But what about those who struggle with that? In the natural? They have a legitimate problem. Spiritually? They’ve made a choice. Yes, they have. Not choosing is a choice as much as choosing is. Think of it this way. You can go forward or not. Going backwards is not going forward. Sitting down is not going forward. Moving sideways is not going forward. Anything except going forward is not going forward. That’s what Jesus things are. You can do it His way or you can not. Anything but doing it His way is not. No matter what you pick, what your success rate it, what you believe, what you feel, what you think, what others tell you, and what you know or not. Anything but His way is NOT His way. It is a binary equation. A black and white reality with absolutely no grey areas at all in any way. The black and white never, ever, ever, meet.

That means we have a choice. We can rely on human thinking. Human reasoning. Human science. Human ingenuity. Or we can do it Jesus’ way. Jesus said in Matthew 6:27 “Which of you by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?” That means we shouldn’t be anxious. John 14:1 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.” Luke 12:26 “If then you aren’t able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest?” Well, Jesus was talking about very specific things in those instances. Okay.

1 Peter 5:6-7 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.” Proverbs 24:19 “Don’t fret yourself because of evildoers, neither be envious of the wicked.” Psalm 37:8 “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Don’t fret; it leads only to evildoing.” Philippians 4:6 “In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Not enough?

Don’t be anxious? It’s in there. Don’t be troubled. Yup. Don’t worry. Yup. Don’t be fainthearted. Yup. Don’t be grieved. Yup. ‘Don’t’ implies you can not be these things. That it is possible to decide not to be these things. So can we just decide not to be depressed? Just decide not to have an anxiety attack? On our own? No. With God? Yes. Absolutely yes.

I’ve suffered from anxiety attacks. I’ve had these issues. I’ve been incapacitated, up all night, unable to leave the house, unable to breathe. I’ve had the headaches, the chest pains. I’ve had these issues. But I don’t any more. It didn’t go away. I chose to send it away. Not in me. Not by my efforts. Those efforts weren’t a sin. They weren’t evidence of weak faith — faith didn’t come into it. And if it doesn’t come into it for you, thank God for your doctors. Pray that they have wisdom when they deal with you.

But I am simply telling you that all the years of my efforts — my best wholehearted efforts — did nothing to end it and barely helped me to manage it. But in Christ? Relying on the sacrifice of Jesus to be the end point of my fears, anxiety, depression, and worry? It is only a matter of faith. Not faith believing that it is going to happen maybe one day fingers crossed. Faith knowing it is true, it will happen, and that you don’t have to accept anything less or anything else. It is a choice. A decision to put yourself in Christ.

1 Peter 5:6-10 says “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you. Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings. But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”

The last part doesn’t sound that good. Stand on faith, discipline ourselves, and keep alert while we cast our cares on Jesus. Especially when we have to ‘suffer for a little while’. No one likes to wait or suffer. BUT look at things in the natural. We take a pill and have to wait for it to take effect. We paint a room, and need to wait for it to dry. We go to cook and it takes awhile for the food to be ready. We stop drinking caffeine or cut down on our sugar intake and we have withdrawal symptoms for a few days. Then we even out and usually feel better. Waiting, especially detoxing from something, isn’t fun. But it isn’t forever.

Spiritually, we have to wait for rescue to prove and strengthen our faith. For how long? A little while. How do we do it? To make sure that we’re doing it right? So that we deal with it instead of dragging it out for weeks, months, or years like a child throwing a tantrum while you just want them in bed? We purposefully give Jesus ALL our anxiety and worry. Put it on the cross. Every time after that moment of choice, whenever a worry comes up refer it to the cross. I tell them ‘Sorry, that’s not my department. Head over there. I left it on the cross.’ Do it by choice. Like we put on pants or the armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). Do it daily. Hourly. Every ten minutes. Whenever the thoughts hit. Then we will have the tools to resist and do this correctly. To detox from the cycle of fear and stress, and live in peace and security.

The next step is vital. Praise the Lord. Praise. The. Lord. Out loud. In your head. A verse, a poem, a song, a dance. Send worship His way. To the Throne itself. Not because you want to get something, but because He saved you and that’s enough. He saved you from sin. He saved you from this. He saved you. Praise Him. Don’t worry about your feelings. Praise Him anyway. It is the surest way to rid yourself of negative and dose yourself with positive. As long as your heart means it, it doesn’t matter if your flesh and your feelings and your mind tell you it’s silly. You’re praising not for what will be, but for what is already accomplished in, on, and through the cross.

It isn’t easy. There are days I do it ten or twenty (thousand) times. But every time it comes up I say (out loud whenever possible): ‘No. I dealt with that. That’s God’s problem.’ And then I praise the Lord. I thank Him for the solution. I thank Him I can be carefree. I praise Him. I do NOT always feel like it. I end up being fine, but at the start I don’t always feel it. It isn’t easy, but it is simple. And the result? God does His part. I have seen restoration, support, strength, and answers. I’ve had bonuses arrive early and unexpectedly. I have seen food last longer than it should have. I’ve seen depression and anxiety fade like smoke in the wind. I have seen traffic disappear so that we can all be on time — when we’re on the road and praying, everyone gets Blessed with flowing traffic. I have seen it. It WORKS.

When bad thoughts come calling, remember who is in charge. We don’t NEED the negative in our life or minds. We don’t even HAVE TO BE NEGATIVE. We don’t HAVE TO put up with depression, anxiety, worry, fear, or any of that. Why? Because the outcome is ALREADY DECIDED. We just have to catch up to it, Praise God! Hope is the expectation — the firm and absolute knowledge — that it WILL come to be. This is not wishing for an outcome, desiring an outcome, or positive thinking an outcome your way. This is expecting God to fulfil the promises God has made in His Word. This is expecting God to be and do what God’s own nature is and does. That’s not wishing, friends. That’s a certainty. Seek Him and His ways. The rest will fall into place and you will find yourself victorious, positive, operating in Joy and Peace, and truly content with the life that you have. The life He sustains you with.

When doubt comes, kick it to the curb. The outcome is ALREADY DECIDED. Choose to praise the Lord for it. Every day until it arrives, and then afterwards too because look at that great thing He did! Read it in the Word. Believe it. Receive it. Choose it. Walk in it.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Proverbs 13:24-25

Who hasn’t corrected their kids? Or been corrected by a parent, teacher, or boss? It never feels good, but there are times when we need and deserve it — I am NOT talking about petty corrections designed to control us. When it is a parent to a child, it is MOTIVATED by love and should be DONE in love. For the BENEFIT of the child to protect them or correct a behaviour that will cause them problems later in life. We do it promptly and KINDLY. We get it over with and move on. Why? Because it is a correction, not a big deal. God is the same way. His corrections are motivated 100% by love, are quick, and improve us. Every time. It proves that He truly loves us because He doesn’t let us run around doing whatever we want, whenever we want, regardless of the consequences. He steps in RIGHT AWAY to keep us on course and our paths straight (Hosea 2:6-7; Proverbs 3:5-6).

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.