What are you afraid of????

Happy Tuesday, Blogland!  You cannot BEGIN to imagine the disarray and chaos that has been going on in my world over the past week!!!  Has anyone ever experienced a clogged sewer line from the house (tree roots, packed earth and debris) which keeps ALL of the water from flowing out to the sewer?  Whelp, that was my life for the past week.  Third rodding out today was the charm - we are finally back to normal (had to abandon the house for a few days)!  I am up in the wee hours of the morning (well, technically it's almost time to get up since it's after 5 am) doing dishes and cleaning trying to restore some order over here!  My current situation?  Debating whether to take a day off to sanitize the utility room and lower level bathroom (because I was too tired to do it last night and I am truly afraid of E Coli) or leave work early tomorrow to get home early enough to do it (knowing I have a full evening of activity tomorrow evening).  The jury's still out on that one!  Sometimes I feel like I need a clone!!!

But moving on to today's post: What are you afraid of?  That wasn't the title of Sunday's sermon but was the subject matter.  In my life, I've been afraid of a number of things: rodents (I still am), the dark, scary movies (still won't watch them), worms (ugh!), big dogs (had some bad experiences in my childhood), crowds (still not a fan).  Then there's the fears we don't share with the world:  fear of rejection, fear of not being good enough, fear of failure, fear of being lonely/alone, fear of commitment, fear of not being a good parent, fear of losing your child (wrote about that one at the end of August, you can read it here), fear of sickness, fear of the unknown, fear of losing everything, fear of having everything you ever wanted... I think we can all agree that there are lots of things that people are afraid of, some real, some all manufactured in their own minds.

 But what is fear?  It is defined on dictionary.com as:

noun

1.

a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc.,whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of beingafraid.

Synonyms: foreboding, apprehension, consternation, dismay, dread,terror, fright, panic, horror, trepidation, qualm.

Antonyms: courage, security, calm, intrepidity.

2.

a specific instance of or propensity for such a feeling:

an abnormal fear of heights.

Synonyms: phobia, aversion; bête noire, bogy, bogey, bugbear.

Antonyms: liking, fondness, penchant, predilection.

3.

concern or anxiety; solicitude:

a fear for someone's safety.

4.

reverential awe, especially toward God:

the fear of God.

Synonyms: awe, respect, reverence, veneration.

5.

something that causes feelings of dread or apprehension; something aperson is afraid of:

Cancer is a common fear.

6.

anticipation of the possibility that something unpleasant will occur:

Having grown up during the Great Depression, he had a constant fearof running out of money.

This past Sunday we were blessed to hear Evangelist Belinda Cheeks, a minister at Victory, deliver the word in the first service.  It was my first time hearing her speak and I truly enjoyed her.  So as I often do, I'm going to share tidbits from the sermon with you!

Scripture Text:  

2 Timothy 1:7New King James Version (NKJV)

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

(An aside, every time I hear that scripture, I am reminded of my brother and VOP (Voices of Praise) singing this song back in the good day (my brother was the lead singer))! 

I try very hard to always remember this scripture whenever I'm fearful of something, but if I can be transparent for a minute, sometimes it's just hard!  In my experience and in my humble opinion, fear is crippling.  It can keep you standing in one place because you are too afraid to move because of things that have happened and you don't think you can handle another bad thing happening to you.  Fear can also be a motivator.  It can motivate you to work hard because perhaps you have experienced a time of lack and you never want to experience it again.  

As Evangelist Cheeks said on Sunday, fear is a part of life and man's biggest enemy.  She went on to say this:  "Fear of our destiny blocks us from what God has called us to do." That made me stop and think about how many times I've hesitated...

Paraphrasing Evangelist Cheeks, fear comes from three things:  1) Who you are listening to, 2) What you are looking at and 3) What you are thinking.  

Listening:  in Genesis 3:1-8, Eve listened to Satan's chatter that was contrary to God's word. Then she was afraid. How many times have your done or not done something because of the negative voices in your head?  Satan's chatter is always contrary to God's word.  

Looking:  in Matthew 8: 23-27, when the disciples were on the boat with Jesus (who was asleep), a storm came and the disciples were afraid.  They woke Jesus, who spoke to the storm and calmed the waters.  The disciples were on the boat with Jesus and still had a storm.  The storms of life don't discriminate and they sometimes result in fear.  The lesson? It's not the absence of the storm but who we look to during the storm - in other words, look to Jesus, not our circumstances.

Thinking:  2 Corinthians 10:5 - apprehend thoughts that are contrary to God.  Thoughts are critical, they kill our hopes and dreams.  We need to speak God's word (yes, in our own lives) when we are under mental attack (how many of you know that Satan's mental attacks are real???). We need to call on our Heavenly Father, doing so releases our power and our secret weapon (the Holy Spirit) - we already have the victory over Satan, so we must shut him down in our thoughts as well.

I have to be transparent, this is one area that I truly struggle with.  Satan and his minions know your weaknesses and that's where the attacks come.  Negative thinking can be so subtle sometimes that you don't even realize that you're doing it.  Someone gives you a compliment and instead of accepting it, you deflect it:  "this old thing?"  "I've gained so much weight!"  "My hair is a mess!"  And then other times it's loud like a drum; you have a bad day at work, or fight with your significant other, and you feel like the world is ending and your mind can take you places... As I have had to remind myself time and time again, God has not given us a spirit of fear!  Pushing through your fears is hard sometimes, but almost always worth it!  Now, I will probably always be afraid of rodents, scary movies, big dogs and crowds, but I refuse to be afraid of Satan's negative chatter, storms and mental attacks! Why?  Because I know that God has given me something to do and moreover, the Word says that the devil is already defeated so we already have the victory!  See Colossians 2:15, and hear this song here!  

So what am I saying?  Having fears is a normal part of life, but we cannot let them cripple us, stifle us or keep us from victory and our destinies!  God has a special plan for each of us and we cannot allow fear to keep us from discovering it.  Take these scriptures with you:  "No weapon formed against me shall prosper," Isaiah 54:17;  "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me," Philippians 4:13.  Walk in victory!

What about you - what are YOU afraid of????  Holla @ Darvi and let's pray about it!  Be Blessed!!!