Fighting Fear

Daschell M. Phillips

The spirit of fear is our enemy. Sometimes we focus so much on our fears that we

miss the glory of God and what He has planned for us. Putting on our full armor of

God and fighting fear is the only way to walk in the abundant life that God has given

us.
 

What is Fear?

In order to confront and combat the enemy we must first know what it is. According

to dictionary.com fear is:

          1.
               a. A feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence

                   of danger.

               b. A state or condition marked by this feeling: living in fear.

          2. A feeling of disquiet or apprehension: a fear of looking foolish.

          3. Extreme reverence or awe, as toward a supreme power (To be discussed

               later).

          4. A reason for dread or apprehension: Being alone is my greatest fear.

Notice that most of these definitions are saying that fear is a feeling. We know that

as men and women of God we are empowered to overcome negative feelings and emotions through faith. Fear is a lack of faith! Faith and fear cannot operate together. Where there is fear there is no faith and where there is faith there is no fear.
 

My First Encounter with fear:

When I was about eight years old my father and I were walking down the street and we saw a stray dog in the street. We were walking right towards this dog, being deathly afraid of dogs, I began to pull away from my father’s hand so I could run away.

He tightened his grip and said “Don’t you ever be afraid of anything when I am with you.” I was so blinded by my fear that I forgot that I was with my father and that he would fight for me and allow himself to be hurt before allowing me to be hurt. We walked right past the dog and went home. From that day forward we always had a

cat or dog as a pet because my dad couldn’t stand for me to be afraid of anything.

To this day I think about that experience. I think that the Holy Spirit continues to keep this incident clear in my mind to tell me this: If your natural father would protect you

in this way, just think about how much more your heavenly father would see you through. He is always with you and if you just trust in Him and not allow your fears

to have control over your life you can come into all the things I have planned for you.

God doesn’t want us to fear anything he wants us to be conqueror’s through Him and make fear our pet (as in making us masters over it).

"Be strong, courageous, and firm; fear not nor be in terror before them, for it is the Lord your God Who goes with you.   He will not fail you or forsake you."   Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

What do you fear?

Take a minute and think about what scares you. Is it speaking in public; social situations; scared of harm from people in powerful positions (boss, parents, creditors, etc...); loosing your job, home, business, family member, etc…; failure in career, relationships, future plans; growing older; being alone? Always remember that when you come to (scary situations) God will bring you through!

Conquering Fear:

When you are in a spiritual battle both you and God have a part to play in obtaining victory.

God’s Part

In my first experience I had a choice when I saw the dog I could have either continued to pull away from my father and do what I always did, which was take another (often longer) route to my destination.

What would I have done if there was another loose dog on the alternate route? And even if I would have gotten home safely; the next time I saw a stray dog in my path I would still be scared and run away. Eventually I would have probably begun to dread going outside because of my fear of dogs. I would have been paralyzed by fear. What a terrible childhood that would have been!

But even before I knew Him, God blessed me and my choice was to believe my natural father’s words and trust him as he led me forward. As my father began to buy me pets he showed me how to treat them and control them so that they would not harm me. Needless to say I am no longer afraid of dogs and that gives me more confidence. When we trust and believe in God and allow Him to fight our battles we make it through our trials and we are stronger for it.

"Fear not, for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My right hand of righteousness and justice…"
Isaiah 41:10-13(NIV)


Your Part

Let God do it!

We must remember that God is faithful, our strong tower and He has power over all of the things we fear. His power works in us so we have power over fear (Isaiah 61:1-3) but when we focus on fear we forget what God has given us.

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (fear), but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. "   2 Timothy 1:7(NIV)

Our words thoughts and actions can either avert a fear or build on it and make it stronger. We want to stop the spirit of fear in its tracks. We want to:

Pray – Tell God our situations, ask him to fight our battles, thank Him for listening and answering our prayers. Philippians 4:6-7(NIV)

Keep – Do not meditate on fear but keep your mind on God and His promises. Philippians 4:8(NIV)

Wait - Continue to seek Him for as long as it takes and wait on Him to move.
Psalm 130:5(NIV)

Speak –Speak the word over your fear. Proverbs 15:4(NIV)

Walk – You can walk in your victory right now because you have faith in a God that is going to work things out for your good. Isaiah 60:1(NIV)

Fast – In spiritual battles Jesus tells us in Mark 9:29 “This kind (of stronghold) can come forth (out) by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” (KJV)


Fearing the Lord

The third meaning in the definition above, extreme reverence or awe, as toward a supreme power, means the respect and intimate knowledge of God. This kind of fear sets you free.

What fearing the Lord has done:

Allowed Abraham to keep his son. Genesis 22:12(NIV)

Reconciled Joseph with his family. Genesis 42: 17-19(NIV)

Blessed midwives with children because they saved the one (Moses) who would be used to get His people out of bondage. Exodus1:16-18 (NIV)

Answered prayers and intercessions Acts 10: 1-4(NIV)

God helped these men and women through extraordinary circumstances just think about what He can do for you if you let go of your fears and trust in Him.

Daschell is a journalist. You can contact her about this article at:
Daschell@BlessedLady.com
 

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