ACCORDING to the dictionary fear is described as the following:
“an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.”
Other words that are similar are: Terror, Fright, Horror, Alarm, Panic, Agitation and I am sure there are many more.
The one thing that I know, is that fear is one of the biggest liars.
Fear can make you question yourself, your surroundings, relationships, situations, people’s intentions even the ones that you love and trust.
I use to think of myself as someone who handles stress quite well, until one day I heard that stress is just another form of fear.
Immediately my little bubble was burst – I mean, I was quite proud of that fact.
I even prided myself in the fact that the more stress I had to deal with, the better the quality of my work was….you know, people who say that they work well under stress.
Can you imagine if you actually used all the time you had to do the job you had to….instead of cramming it into the little time you had left.
A while ago I had a very interesting moment where fear was at my front door – or so I thought. I imagine Father had quite a good chuckle about the situation.
On weekends I am usually alone with just my animals to keep me company. We live on a farm not far from town, with 2 horses, 3 dogs and 5 cats.
Our one dog is a little sausage dog, who of course is the bravest of them all…..
She loves to bark, even if she thinks she hears something, so you know when you need to go and have a look and when not.
On a Saturday evening late I was settling in to have a nice relaxing bath, with my worship music playing nicely and loudly, and I was singing as loudly as I could.
(Only over weekends do I sing along in order to spare my kids the agony of off-key music).
The next moment my sausage dog comes running into the bathroom, barking her head off, and the hair on her back standing up.
Now, this is the bark that you don’t want to hear when you are alone, on a farm, at night. At that moment I was very afraid…….but I decided that I would not let fear overwhelm me, as I know Who looks after me.
I prayed that He will send his Angels to come and protect me, and to send a ring of fire around the farm that no harm would befall me.
But fear will always keep knocking at the door, and I thought maybe this might be a test…..you know. Like he is testing my faith.
I got dressed, grabbed my gas pistol, went outside and locked the door, with my dogs by my side.
I decided that whoever was lurking around the house, will get a nice surprise in the form of little steel pellets, and I figured the dogs should alert me as to which direction the assailant will be coming from.
The next moment I hear running…..like hard and fast running, and I see a blur of movement on my left.
Around the corner, came our 2 year old Horse.
I’m sure that I now no longer belong to A+ blood group after that fright.
Seems she jumped over the fence, and was exploring around the house, like a child who gets to do whatever he wants to.
The little dog obviously had the fright of her life, and so the cycle of fear tried to wedge open the door in my heart.
After the initial shock, I had such a good laugh and I’m sure Father had a good one as well…..but it got me thinking.
My husband suggested that we install camera’s around the house, as a protective measure, but I had this “Where is your faith” mindset. I think that this whole situation, as funny as it was afterwards, was also a way to open my eyes.
He also gives us wisdom, and you also need to use this wisdom to make good choices that will affect your future.
The same is true with this situation we have in our country at the moment.
Yes, use the wisdom He has given you, and be safe, use the guidelines set out, but do not let fear rule how you handle everyday.
Whether it’s about health, finances or worrying about your family…….focus on today, what needs to be done and what is important.
As soon as you allow fear to make you worry about tomorrow, next week or even next month, you are putting your energy into fighting situations that might not even happen. When you are making plans for tomorrow, you are missing the beauty, the miracle or even the whisper of His voice today.
That’s what fear does, he steals your joy, your focus and takes root in your heart, your mind and even your dreams, pulling you down into a dark, hopeless place, and lies to you.
But our God, will never forget you, He will never forsake you, because He has paid the highest price for you.
Do you really think for one second, that if He has done all of this for you, He will leave you? Don’t believe the lies that fear tries to spread in your life.
Deuteronomy 31:6 says: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Kingdom News: What is fear?
