FACING THE GIANTS IN OUR LIVES  (FACING FEAR - #1 GIANT)

(Alesia at age 8)

(Prov. 3:25a, 26) “Be not afraid of sudden fear. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken. (I Tim. 1:7) “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

                On yesterday’s post, I shared one of my giants with you. It was the traffic I had to deal with in Texas. It was the fear of the traffic that made it a giant in my life. Fear can be a giant if we choose to let it be. I chose to conquer and defeat it so it is no longer a giant in my life.

                Fear can cause torment, anxiety and a lot of stress if not dealt with properly. God wants us to have faith and not fear. (I John 4:18a- “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.” To me it is simply saying, when you really put your faith, hope, trust and all your love in someone, fear will be dismissed because their love for us surpasses the fear. When we face those things we fear into the hands of someone who loves, cares and is there to protect us, we no longer have to carry or bear that giant.

                (Personal story) I can recall an incident in my childhood about fearing the unknown. Most small kids are afraid of the dark and I was one of them. I guess I was around the age of eight when this incident happened. We had all went to bed and over into the night the neighbor’s dog began to bark repeatedly as if an intruder was near our house. The dog would not stop barking and it kept me awoke. I went to our bedroom window to see if I saw what it might have been barking at. I became afraid and ran to my parent’s room and told my dad somebody was outside trying to get into our house. I was so afraid because our bedroom was near the rear of the house. My dad told me to go back to bed no one was out there and no one was going to bother me. I went back to bed but I couldn’t sleep because the dog wouldn’t stop barking and I thought I had heard something at the window and door. Fear can really torment you especially as a child. I ran back to my dad and told him I thought I had heard something outside and it was going to get me. My dad got up, grabbed me up in his arms, opened the rear door and we both went outside in the dark to check to see what was going on. This is not what I wanted him to do. I wanted for him to go alone and not me with him. I began to cry and tell him I didn’t want to go. He told me that it was necessary that I go to see for myself that nothing was out there and I needed to face my fear. We went around the entire perimeter of the house and there was nothing. He wanted me to see that there was nothing out there in the dark awaiting me. FEAR had overtaken me.

                FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real! My fear left because I faced it. What I thought was there was not there. It sounded and appeared to be there. We returned back inside the house and he laid me down in my bed and I fell asleep. The enemy will use fear to steal our peace and our rest and it will become a giant hindering us from moving forward. I’m so glad my dad decided to help me face my giant (fear of the unknown) that night.

                I’m finding out that the key to overcoming a lot of the “giants” I listed on Tuesday’s post is to knock down the #1 giant – FEAR! When we defeat that one, the rest of them of much easier to challenge and defeat. The doctor can tell a physical fit and healthy person to come in for a routine exam.    Tests are done and a small spot shows up on the x-ray and immediately when the patient is told of this, FEAR enters and it activates symptoms in reaction to this news. I’ve been told by the doctors that if I didn’t do this or that, this would happen, etc. Each time they tell me something I look at them and say, “That’s what you say, but I’m healed in the name of Jesus”.  Done deal! When results were returned, everything they tested one me was negative. What you believe in is what will be manifested in your life. If you believe you are healed, you are healed. If you believe you are sick, you are sick. If you believe you are victorious, then you are victorious. Let our prayer daily be for God to help us eliminate fear in all forms so we can move on to what’s NEXT in our lives and defeat these other giants lurking at us!