Fear is a struggle for so many vibrantly beautiful Christian women… We CAN have victory in this battle, and I’m living proof of that! God has helped me in the last several years put an end to this dibilitating stronghold of fear. Just as I can’t keep a good recipe to myself, I can’t keep quiet about what I know to be true from God’s Word. I’m praying that 2 Timothy 1:7 will be a victorious reality in each of our lives:
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (Amp)
Smelling Coffee TV – Fighting and Winning in the battle of Fear
(If you can’t watch the video on this page, click here.)
Notes used in making this video:
Do you ever feel a sudden onslaught of panic and fear? I admit that I do, and praise God that He is teaching me some keys toward victory in this area. What the Lord gave me through my QT a few years ago was powerful, and has worked so well for me, I couldn’t keep it to myself.
I was in the middle of studying a daily lesson in Beth Moore’s Esther when a paragraph caused me to detour for the day… And what a powerful Word from the Lord He gave me! I typed out my notes, burned these truths in my mind, and have put them into practice. Panic-savers Lifesavers, I tell you! If you need a few panic-saving life-saving keys, here they are.
“The enemy is trying to get back at God by attacking us. Because Satan has a limited leash where believers are concerned, his most powerful tactics are psychological. Though he can’t possess our minds, he profoundly and destructively influences our thoughts.” Beth Moore, Esther, week 3, day 3.
I have found this to be very true for me. At that point, more than any other stage of my life, I consistently fought the battle between faith and sight, hope and fear. (Some days I won, and some days I lost.)
As the calendar ticked by and we remained without employment (and had no inkling of an idea of where or what our future would hold – See this page for all God did through those most difficult days) faith fought sight, and hope fought fear. As I watched our children grow and mature, and I began that process of thinking about releasing them, faith fought sight and hope fought fear. Sometimes, I would be doing nothing but driving or riding down the road and notice another vehicle, and faith fought sight and hope fought fear.
If I’m not careful, my mind will still work up any number of disastrous scenarios that will be so life-like, I’ll end up actually crying just thinking about it. This SHOULD NOT BE! I don’t have to be this way. None of us do.
After years of being locked up by fear, God has freed me through His Word, and through a simple question Beth Moore posed in her 4th video session of the Esther study:
“If ________________ happens, then God ______________. And if ____________________, then God ______________________. And if ____________________, then God ____________________….. then what?”
In my mind, I had already planned out those terrible scenarios, but I never completed them. The “If ______________” wasn’t the problem. The fear trap was that I never completed the sentences and scenarios with “then God _____________.”
I learned that it is not enough to trust God to never let that which I fear the most happen. I must face that fear, and trust that IF it does happen, My God will take care of me – of them – or of it! Psalm 37:23-25… My God will be faithful!
“Fear not” is the most frequent command in the Bible. Can you imagine living without fear? Without the nagging sense that everything is about to go horribly wrong? Without the occurring assumption that making it through the week with no incident was a happy surprise or happy accident?
Praise the Lord! I can now!!!!! It was on March 29, 2009 that the Lord and I conquered this fear and I broke free from a yoke that had tied me down for nearly 38 years!
The Lord has shown me that He has given us the keys to release the handcuffs and chains of sight and fear so that we can fully live in faith and hope. And I’d like to pass those keys along to you.
Romans 1:21 (Amp) says:
Our enemy would have us focus on fear, vain imaginations, foolish reasonings, and stupid speculations – which he knows will tie us up in knots and entrap us.
But our Lord, Savior, Lover, Strengthener, our Mighty God says in Hebrews 12:1-2 to
From these verses, we can find the keys to unlock the entanglement of our minds and win the battle of fear:
1. Honor and Glorify God – make an immediate choice to honor Him with your thoughts. Start calling out names of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. If you can’t think of any of those at the moment, just simply say “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus…” until His beautiful name and presence starts to overpower the thoughts of sight and fear.
2. Give God thanks – start thanking God for His love, His protection, His provision, His promises, His Word… for how He will take care of you and the situation…
3. Throw aside the weight of those sensless thoughts – those vain imaginations, foolish reasonings and stupid speculations. This requires some action and choice on your part. Absolutely REFUSE to let them darken your mind. Literally move your hands as if you are throwing them out! Watch them land and crash on the ground!
4. Look to Jesus – Then don’t look at them anymore! Turn your head and put your eyes back on Jesus. Determine to keep your mind and thoughts focused on Him. When you do this, Hebrews 12:2 tells us that He will actually finish and complete FOR YOU the faith you lack in the battle of your minds and thoughts.
Abraham is a beautiful example to me of hope and faith. Romans 4:18-21 tells us how he kept faith and hope in God all of those years…especially when the promise of God became physically, humanly impossible to fulfill. I want this to be my testimony, too!
concerning the promise of God,
but he grew strong and was empowered
We can be empowered by faith as we give praise and glory to God, throw aside the dark thoughts of sight and fear, and look to Jesus – who is fully ABLE and MIGHTY to keep His Word and do what He has promised.
That’s what I want to do. How about you?
By the grace of God, that’s how I’ve lived for the past five years, and I NEVER again intend to let fear grip and keep hold of me! I’m holding on to Jesus and His keys that will release me from the next lock-ups the enemy has planned. In fact, in my mind, they are on a beautiful silver Brighton Key ring. Who says that spiritual power and a little “bling” can’t go together? 🙂
“And let us rejoice and exalt in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God.” Romans 5:2b
“O Lord of Hosts, blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts in You [leaning on and believing on You, committing all and confidently looking to You, and that without fear or misgiving.]” Psalm 84:12 (Amp)
