Spirit of Fear

Where do our fears come from?

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

So since my fears do not come from God, then they must be one of Satan's tactics to make sure I'm not content.  To work this backwards, if I don't have a spirit of love and a sound mind, then I am not in tune with God's plans for me.  This perspective helps me identify areas of my life that need to be corrected and also lead me to finding the solutions.  I tend to take on too much or blame myself for the wrong parts of a problem I'm facing.  Feeling unworthy, or hopeless or giving up is not constructive or healing and will not lead me to a solution or a way to learn from my mistakes.  This is also a distraction from Satan.  He does not want me to learn from my mistakes so I can improve, or trust God.  He wants me doubting, being afraid, and missing the point.  He also helps me to forget this very principle -- more often than not.  But once I am reminded that God is providing a spirit of love, power and a sound mind, it turns my focus away from the destructive thoughts of myself and provides an avenue for correcting those thoughts and intentions back to God.  

I think identifying accurately the source of our struggles is the key to dissolving them and learning from them.  

This is one of my favorite prayers from Stormie O'Martian's book, "Prayers for Emotional Wholeness"

"Lord, set me free from worry about the future and the bad things I fear could happen.  Help me to focus instead on the situations I face today and Your great power to see me through each one victoriously.  Bless my health, my work, my relationships, my decisions, my finances, my friends, and my family.  I place my life fully in Your hands and trust that You, Lord, will help me and guide me on the path to complete wholeness and success in my life."

Mathew 6:34

"Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about it's own things.  Sufficient for the day is it's own trouble."

Never pray for an easier life...

We all struggle with things and have countless choices in how to deal with these struggles.  This can be anything from minor inconveniences to major events in life.  I am surprised at how easily I deal with some things, and equally surprised at how poorly I seem to deal with and understand others.  We need to understand our fears and needs and emotions and learn where they come from and why we have these reactions to life’s events.  We must learn what our strengths and weaknesses are.  It’s not always easy to get a clear view of ourselves. And where independence and pride can block our self-awareness, we must turn to God for guidance from His word and godly counsel from the people God puts in our lives.  

In my search to conquer some of these challenges, I like to start with a passage from James that I read often, but I continue to struggle with. 

James 1:2-4

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have it’s perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” 

So, in other words, the state of patience = lacking nothing.  I would love to feel like I ‘lack nothing’.  But how often do we really feel that way.  We wish for this or that, complain about this or that, or express in many other ways our being discontent.  This is not a peaceful life nor is it the one God wants for me so I believe He has provided a way for me to learn how to deal with negativity and tragedy in a healthy way.  And I will be stronger each time I follow His guidance and succeed in overcoming my challenges.  This doesn’t mean that I have to like everything that has been put in my path, but I do have the ability to get through it and be stronger in the process if I look at it through God’s eyes and see His purpose in it.  

Let’s imagine that our emotional response is stress, fear or anxiety.  We are to have a respectful and reverential fear or awe of God.  But not of the events He allows to happen in our life.  Anxiety is to fear or worry about what you think might happen.  The cure for fear is experiencing the perfect love of Jesus Christ, which casts out all fear.  And don’t forget - you don’t have to face your fears alone.  

Hebrews 13:5-6 says, "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

I remind myself the definition of stress is when we perceive our physical, mental or emotional needs or desires are not going to be met and/or we perceive that demands placed on us exceed our resources or ability to meet those demands.   When I look at it this way, I realize that the only way this can happen to me is if I am prioritizing earthly desires and expectations from myself or others above God's expectations.   God promises to take care of me and provide for my needs as long as I am putting Him first in my life.  So if I think I need something I am not being provided then I must be valuing a lifestyle, appearance, condition or expectation that exceeds what God has provided.  This is so humbling to me.  Who am I to argue with God, my Creator, or disagree with what He has provided me?  

This is one of the ways I become perfected in patience.  Because timing is also a part of our expectations and is often the key to overcoming many challenges.  We want everything now.  We don’t really ever want to go through it so the quicker we get past it the better.  But in this way, we cheat ourselves out of the very lesson God is trying to teach us.  If we pray for patience, then when we are tested beyond our comfort and confidence level we ask for the challenge to be removed, how will we ever receive or gain that patience?  This is what also reminds me to trust God.  I probably had a different challenge in mind, one that I felt pretty confident that I could handle, when I prayed for patience.  But God had another, a better, more fitting, more valuable challenge for me.  If it tests or shakes my confidence then I need to realize that my confidence needs to be in God and all He can do for me and not in myself and my limited abilities.  In the end, I have the potential to be a much ‘bigger’ person if I trust Him to provide the lessons in my life that allow me to grow into that ‘bigger’ person.  Why would I cheat myself of that?  The answer to this is really the key for each of us, and I believe for a lot of people it is fear based.  Once we identify and conquer this fear, we will be content and have that “peace that surpasses understanding” Philippians 4:7

It is natural when ‘bad’ things are happening to us that we pray for them to be removed or taken away, but isn’t this actually us being tempted to run away or avoid the very experience or lesson God is trying to teach us?   Is impatience actually the temptation we need to overcome?  Patience can only be acquired by enduring the very trials that are so overwhelming and uncomfortable that we question our ability to overcome them.  That’s why this is a test of our faith.  

Never pray for an easier life — pray to be a stronger person!

Never pray for tasks equal to your power — pray for power equal to your tasks.

Then doing your work will be no miracle — you will be the miracle.   Phillips Brooks

1 Corinthians 16:13

“Be men of courage, be strong.”

I hope this is encouraging to you.  I know when I remind myself of these things, I do feel stronger, more humble, more grateful, more hopeful and more trusting in God that He really does love me and have a purpose for the seemingly inexplicable events in my life.

Laurie :)

Separated from human reasoning...

It never ceases to amaze me how much God provides for me and at the perfect time.  What does that say about me and my faith?  It is growing.  All the time.  Or, if you prefer, it is lacking.  All the time.  Either way, I am frequently reminded that He is active in my life in more ways than I acknowledge.  

Today's post is generated from my deep appreciation of a devotional article I read in one of my books.  I read these books every day, according to the appointed date, and I never read ahead or behind.  Sort of a rule for myself.  So when the readings identify what I am experiencing at that exact moment and offer the perfect advice or perspective that I need, I can't help but believe God is somehow behind this perfection. I don't understand it, but I am SO grateful for it.

The reading today was explaining the benefit of being isolated from everyone and everything you are used to and the blessings that can come from this uncomfortable state.  Referring to the widow and her two sons in 2 Kings 4:4, it says, "They had to be isolated from everyone, separated from human reasoning, and removed from the natural tendencies to prejudge their circumstance.......depending on God alone."  (more later on 'prejudging our circumstances')  This is exactly what I needed to hear today as I am facing severe and intense trials in my life right now and it's left me feeling so confused and seeking a reason or understanding for the situation I am in.  It tells me that God is going to great lengths in my life to get my proper attention.  As much as I think I am putting Him first in my life, my reaction to unexpected changes that I see as unfavorable corrects my thinking.  If I were really putting Him first, my first reaction would not be fear or worry but an understanding that God has allowed or orchestrated this for my benefit.  To draw me closer to Him and rely on him entirely.  Not on whatever I have lost.  I know that in my life, tragedy and loss has 'called me on the carpet' and reminded me that I have let myself trust in something other than God.  Not that we shouldn't experience sorrow with our losses but they don't need to destroy us.

But this also requires action on our part.  As stated in my reading, "We are to enter a secret chamber of isolation in prayer and faith that is very fruitful.  At certain times and places, God will build a mysterious wall around us.  He will take away all the supports we customarily lean upon, and will remove our ordinary ways of doing things.  God will close us off to something divine, completely new and unexpected, and that cannot be understood by examining our previous circumstances.  We will be in a place where we do not know what is happening, where God is cutting the cloth of our lives by a new pattern, and thus where He causes us to look to Him."   Wow.  This describes perfectly how He has worked in my life the past few years and that makes it so much more comforting to be reminded that He will do the same in my current situation.  How could I forget?  I think it's just the way we humans are wired; we need constant reminding and training.  

"Most Christians lead a treadmill life -- a life in which they can predict almost everything that will come their way."  This described my life up until the past few years.  I didn't have all the answers to my problems but I knew how to get them, was able to find them and learn from them and so I was not afraid of unexpected challenges or changes in life. I didn't know what was coming and I didn't welcome 'bad' things in my life, but I had so many resources (health benefits, work/life benefits through my job, friends, family, wise people around me...) I had confidence that I could survive them and even be stronger in the process.  But the past few years have shattered that confidence which tells me I was more confident in MYSELF than in God.  So I am being lovingly corrected.   

The article further says, "But the souls that God leads into unpredictable and special situations are isolated by Him.  All they know is that God is holding them and that He is dealing in their lives.  Then their expectations come from Him alone."  This totally changes my perspective.  It takes me from feeling absolutely inadequate, foolish, lost and confused to instead believing God really does have a purpose in me going through this pain and fear and HE is that purpose.  I have allowed myself to get distracted from the main priority in life: put God first -in everything.  In my life, this means daily Bible reading, prayer, and trusting Him.

So now, I am reminded that when human reasoning isn't helping me or answering any of my questions and also when it IS helping me, either way, I must remain detached from earthly things and keep myself attached to God.  "It is through the most difficult trials that God often brings the sweetest discoveries of Himself"

Excerpts taken from "Streams in the Desert" L.B. Cowman