Fearful Spirit
I awoke this morning with my heart pounding. I had been dreaming about riding a bicycle down a long steep hill with no sense of brakes. As sleep began to disappear, reality made my heart begin beating rapidly again. With many huge life changes converging this week, as well as health concerns niggling at the back of my mind, I cried out to God to understand what to do. I told Him I was afraid. He responded in my soul, "Are you saying that I am not big enough to handle your problems?" I took a deep breathe and replied, "Of course not Lord."
But that's exactly what I was saying with all my fears. I was saying in my trembling heart that God had either not heard my cry or was not willing to do anything about it. Rather than standing firm on the promises of God and trusting in the reality of His might, I was going into my old ways of handling things that caused me fear. Action, sleep, procrastination, impatience, anger, and worry, my favorite ineffective and sinful behaviors to deal with the old nature's reaction to "fight or flight" feelings.
So as I was finally dealing with a pile of papers I had put off working on, there was a two year old copy of Our Daily Bread magazine from February 2012 laying flat, open to Monday, February 20th, with the title, "The Remedy for Fear." A scripture included was from Psalm 34:4, "I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." The author of the excerpt, that was paired with the scripture, Joe Stowell noted, "A fearful spirit is more vulnerable to the enemy, who tempts us to compromise biblical convictions and to take matters into our own hands. The remedy for fear, of course, is trust in our Creator…Trust in the Lord is the cure for a fearful spirit."
But that's exactly what I was saying with all my fears. I was saying in my trembling heart that God had either not heard my cry or was not willing to do anything about it. Rather than standing firm on the promises of God and trusting in the reality of His might, I was going into my old ways of handling things that caused me fear. Action, sleep, procrastination, impatience, anger, and worry, my favorite ineffective and sinful behaviors to deal with the old nature's reaction to "fight or flight" feelings.
So as I was finally dealing with a pile of papers I had put off working on, there was a two year old copy of Our Daily Bread magazine from February 2012 laying flat, open to Monday, February 20th, with the title, "The Remedy for Fear." A scripture included was from Psalm 34:4, "I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." The author of the excerpt, that was paired with the scripture, Joe Stowell noted, "A fearful spirit is more vulnerable to the enemy, who tempts us to compromise biblical convictions and to take matters into our own hands. The remedy for fear, of course, is trust in our Creator…Trust in the Lord is the cure for a fearful spirit."
That's the key. Remembering that, is the goal. We are vulnerable to attacks when our minds allow fear to grow. Renew our minds daily Lord. Remind us daily that you're not going to allow anything that comes our way to harm us because you love us. Remind us you're conforming us. Your will be done.
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