FEAR!

"There were they
in great fear,
where no fear was."
Psalm 53:5

Okay friends, "I'm putting myself out there!"  I'm going to share some very personal things in the hopes (and prayers!) that it might help someone else!

When I wrote this in my journal, I thought that's where it would stay, but the Lord had other plans!!  I kept asking if He REALLY wanted me to share this with all of you and every time the answer was a resounding YES!  

I’m going to be speaking on the topic of fear! 

When I Googled, "phobia", I was amazed at some of the things people fear.  I was going to list some of them, however I do not want to judge.  

"Judge not, that ye be not judged."
Matthew 7:1

However, I just gotta share one of them!!

“hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia” is the fear of long words!!!  WHAT?  Okay, I get having a phobia of long words, maybe?  But then why give it such a LONG name??!!

Okay here we go with some of my fears!!  Hang on and remember, no judging!

I have a fear of being rejected by others/not measuring up.  I fear being judged, put down, totally misunderstood, unloved and rejected by others, to the point where I feel the need to always "explain", in detail, myself to others just to gain their acceptance.  

Which is SO COMPLETELY WRONG! But, the Lord, in His sweet way reminds me that I am a child of God, and I was bought with a very high price.  The price of the death of His only Son, and I belong to Him and my responsibility is to please Him!

"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
1 Corinthians 6:20

I fear for family members, friends and so many others who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  If if were possible for me to trust Christ for them, I would have done it yesterday!  But I can't.  So I continue to pray fervently.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have had a great fear of thunderstorms.  So what do I do?  As a young adult, I moved to the lightning capital of the world!  I don't mind rain and thunder, but lightning strikes fear into my heart! 

I fear becoming a widow.  When Brian and I were married almost thirty-three years ago, I never once thought of being a widow.  Now that we are "older", the thought runs through my mind, but it turns into a fear due to my chronic illness.  I am unable to work, drive, clean our home, handle our finances, cook, totally care for myself at times.  Not to mention how much I would miss the love of my life!

I fear slippery, slimy, sneaky insects of ANY kind!  Once again, what do I do?  I move to Florida where snakes, lizards and “those roach like creatures” seem to roam anywhere and everywhere they want!  

 

The fear of the unknown.  Such things as, "Is my chronic illness going to worsen until I become totally dependent on someone to care for my daily needs?"  "As our granddaughter grows older, will she be able to make godly decisions in this widly, mixed-up, evil world in which we live?"  But I'm reminded that the future may be unknown to me, but it surely is known in multi-color, explicit, "down to the very nanosecond" detail to my Saviour!

I told you I was going to make myself very vulnerable!  And now that I have, I think I will go hide!

BUT there's one thing I do NOT fear!

I do NOT fear death!

WHY?  

Because I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that when I die I WILL go to be with Jesus in Heaven.  NOT because of any good thing I have done or any bad thing I have not done or NOT because I am a religious person.  

I DON'T NEED
TO FEAR DEATH
BECAUSE I HAVE A
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
WITH JESUS CHRIST
AND HIM ALONE!

Recently I was telling Brian and the Lord how very fearful I was due to a major flare up of my symptoms. That in turn, caused the Lord to prompt me to study out the word, "fear".

The definition of fear:

“Fear is an uneasiness of mind and an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat”

The definition of fearing the Lord:

“A sense of awe and respect for the majesty of God.  We are invited to call Him Abba, Father, but still we’re not to be flippant with God.  We’re always to maintain a reverent respect and adoration for Him.  To be in complete and total awe of Him!"

Wow, that’s a HUGE difference between those two definitions!!

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
Isaiah 41:10

According to this verse, when I am saying that I am fearful, I am flat-out blatantly disobeying God’s command, “Fear thou not”.  It doesn’t get much simpler than that!

But He tells me WHY I should NOT fear.  Because, “I (The Lord) am with thee.” And it doesn’t get much simpler than that!   

The verse goes on to say, “be not dismayed”

The definition of “dismayed”:

"Disheartened; deprived of courage"

Again the Bible tells me WHY I should NOT be dismayed, “for I am thy God”. The verse goes on to say, that the Lord will strengthen me, help me, uphold me with His right hand of righteousness.  Great reasons not to be dismayed!

^"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
II Timothy 1:7

So if God has not given me the spirit of fear and I'm still fearing, this means I am not following God my Father, but Satan my adversary, and I want NO parts of that!

Some truths I've learned so far as I studied the word, "fear":

• Fear is the total opposite of faith! I cannot have faith and be fearing at the same time.

• The only way to overcome my fears is by trusting completely in my Heavenly Father and believing He knows what is best for me whether I understand His ways or not.

• Memorizing verses to combat the fears and repeating them aloud!

• Walking totally surrendered to the Lord and in the power of the Holy Spirit and not according to my ways or in the flesh.

These are all truths I have known for years, but it's seriously time to put feet to this knowledge the Lord has given me!

 

Do you struggle with fears?  If you would like to talk about your fears, PLEASE feel free to contact me through the prayer request tab on the home page or send me a message at barb@castingyourcare.org.  I would be honored to pray along with you as you seek the Lord for freedom from the bondage of fear.

Some verses to help you and me on our way to freedom from fear!

 

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May God Bless You,

Barb