For months last year, I played a very intense waiting game to see if my stomach and kidney issues were caused by a suspected stomach mass and/or cancer. I kid you not that no matter what type of test it was it TOOK FOREVER, even getting lost at times, and showing anomalies that would cause further investigation. So what should’ve taken a couple of weeks turned into months. Sometimes God keeps us in a situation longer to teach us something.
On a particularly scary day, as I awaited results from yet another test, I prayed and cried out to God for what seemed like hours. My fear had gotten the best of me, and I literally felt imprisoned, helpless.
Then He revealed to me 2 Timothy 1:7:
FOR GOD HATH NOT GIVEN US THE SPIRIT OF FEAR; BUT OF POWER, AND OF LOVE, AND OF A SOUND MIND.
Although I was familiar with this scripture, on this particular day, God used it to birth a life-changing moment. He revealed three truths to me that would help me see fear for what it really is—and how to fight it! If you’re imprisoned by fear, I hope these three truths will be used to help you move closer to finding freedom.
1. Fear is simply an emotion. And emotions can be controlled.
2 Timothy 1:7 plainly states that fear isn’t from God. I can’t tell you how many times in my life I’ve heard or read this scripture and never realized something…
If fear isn’t from God, logic would tell us that it must be from another source—the enemy.
So then I knew who was behind it all, who I was really fighting!
It’s the enemy’s strategy to bind us and blind us with fear, so much so that even in the peripheral all we’re able to see is what he wants us to see. He is the master illusionist, the deceiver, the one who uses all things to his advantage and our demise.
The enemy is the author of confusion, the origin of fear.
When we’re bound and blinded with fear, we’re constantly tuned into the worst-case scenario of our current circumstances. We’re bound and unable to experience the promises of God, unable to live in freedom.
Make no mistake, our adversary, the devil, has studied our every weakness and knows each of us well. So, it’s about time we get to know who we are.
2. We have been given a spirit of POWER (and lots of other good stuff).
And if we have been given a spirit of power, doesn’t that make us powerful? Yes, yes it does.
BOOM! [Take THAT, bad guy!]
As believers, our identity is in Him. If we’re to truly be powerful and live the life that Christ died for us to have, we have to know who we are. Not who the world says we are, not who the enemy wants us to think we are (or aren’t), but who GOD says we are in Him.
Are ya pickin’ up what I’m puttin’ down, friend?
In short, we must learn our true identity and the authority we have over the enemy if we are to be victorious.
God continually tells His people to not be afraid, to fear not.If fear wasn’t a real danger to us, I doubt it would be mentioned over 300 (yes, that’s two zeros) times in the bible.
But there’s good news!
3. We’ve got an edge–an edge the enemy would rather we didn’t know about. The Word.
That makes each of us as believers a huge threat to him and his strategy. God’s word is powerful and gives us authority over old smutty face’s plan for our demise.
This is spiritual warfare. The Word is our ammunition.
Once I understood who I am in Christ, (and claimed it as truth) what was made available to me, the power that is within me—only then was I truly able to fight the enemy, to fight fear.
Finding out who you are in Him starts with prayer. I encourage you to ask God to reveal to you just what it means to be His child—it means so much more than just going to heaven!
Finding your true identity means going to the Word and not just reading it but consuming it. It means chewing on it, getting it down in your soul. And it means doing it often because there’s one thing about fear–it always comes back.
For me, I memorized as much scripture as I could. It was part of my arsenal against fear, against the enemy. I didn’t want to hear the cell door clang and be scurrying around searching my bible or scripture cards to help me come against the attacks. Be ready when the enemy comes at you. A good place to start, at least for me, was memorizing 2 Timothy 1:7.
If you want to read about how He’s got your back and how powerful you really are in Him, check out 2 Corinthians 3:17, Psalm 55:22, and Ephesians 2:10.
Honestly, there are some days when fear is stronger than other days, but I now have a fighting chance. By His grace, I’m no longer frozen in fear, praise God! I know who’s behind it. I know how to come against fear. And I finally know who I am and who I am not.
I am not a prisoner of fear.
Related Video:
iBelieve.com: How Can I Overcome My Fears and Flaws? - Nicole Unice from ibelievedotcom on GodTube.
