Crippled by Fear
“The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.” Oswald Chambers
Fear can be crippling. I know, because I have allowed it to happen to me. It wasn’t until recent years that I recognized that my greatest fear in life was death. Let me clarify—I do not fear my own death, but because of the many deaths that surrounded me as a child, the fear of losing someone close to me can cause me to be completely immobile.
Have you had a random thought out of the blue such as…
What if something happened to my husband? What would I do?
I would be so alone. The children need their father…
A single, solitary thought such as this has caused me to dwell upon and worry about the “what if” for hours. Recently, I have been bombarded with horrible images that pop in my mind. Images that could scare one to death—if I allowed it.
It seems to start at a young age. Children fear something under the bed or hiding in the closet. Our youngest daughter hates clowns. I have to agree, they can be really creepy. Where does such fear come from? We comfort our children in the very same way our Heavenly Father tries to comfort us.
”It’s ok. I’m right here…”
Psalm 139:2 says, “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thoughts from afar.”
God knows what I’m thinking and He tells me if…
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3
The perfect peace comes when I trust in Him—I’m not to fear. It’s the reason that Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7,
”Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will GUARD your hearts and YOUR MIND in Christ Jesus.”
Now when the thoughts come, I have learned to speak God’s truth over the fears as quickly as I recognize what is happening and continue to do so until peace returns.
What about you—what fears plague your mind?
Take those thoughts captive and bath your mind with God’s truth…
I will fear no evil…
God whispers, “It’s ok. I’m right here with you. Do not tremble. I promise that I will not leave you…”
How did you know I needed this ! Satan uses my mind so often as his own personal playground, he knows my insecurities and faults. But, “greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” When my thoughts are running rampant I repeat this verse and at time change the end to “…. Than he that is in my mind'”. Thank you for always knowing what I need.
Beverly, I’m so glad it helped today. Everyday is a playground for the devil it seems. You give me to much credit! God continually brings to mind these different topics. Praise Him from whom all blessings flow! Love you!
Sweet Rhonda, You always seem to “hit the nail on the head”, so to speak 🙂 It seems that Satan is constantly hovering over me this last year… I have always struggled with “worry”, which is pretty much caused by fear… I hold to the verse “Trust in the Lord with all your heart…”Prov 3:5-6… God has truly blessed my life in so many ways!, and I pray about this problem regularly, but there is still such a struggle in this area, and it sometimes paralyzes me, which I know is not from God 🙁 Any thoughts? …. Beverly, I think Im going to join you on the verse( its one of my favs) and add ” Greater is HE that is in my heart, than he who tries to play with my mind!” Thank you Rhonda for reminding me of Phil 4:6-7 Its inspiring! And thank you for your messages!! Love you and your sweet heart for God!
Dawn, A couple of years ago, I sat in front of a well known author that advised me as I started this journey to pray James 4:7 everyday. “Lord, I submit (surrender) unto you this day and I resist the devil and he will flee from me.” He said, many resist the devil, but they fail to surrender unto the name of Jesus. I have not failed to do this since that day. As I said in the post, recently there have been bad images that pop in my mind. So I’m not trying to say that the thoughts stop, but I recognize what is happening much more quickly. Therefore, there is less time rendered immobile. Progress. I love you.