April 27, 2010

Twenty-One

Today I am caught off guard by fear. Its persistent assault rubs away at my resolve, my innate bent toward self-preservation.  I am bone-weary, ready to crumble under its heavy weight.

I search for help, and my Savior does not disappoint.


Ten Ways to Fight Fear

1. Talk to God. Out loud. There is power in the spoken word.

2. Praise. Psalm 8 — God uses our praise to silence the enemy.

3. Strengthen yourself in the Lord. Jonathon strengthened David in the spoken word, and then David "strengthened himself in the Lord."

4. Watch the words you speak about God when you are not praying. No words are neutral; all words have consequences. Watch how you talk about God when you are not praying! Do you doubt, question, complain, to others about your life, his treatment of you?

5. Always put the word of God above the word of man. Watch out for the "theories" of others (e.g., the new widow who was told by her friends that she was entitled to be angry at God for a period of time. She went to the Bible and found nothing on this "theory", and decided not to "be mad" at God; and it probably helped her grieving process).

6. Memorize the Word. "It's a secret doorway to God's heart."

7. Choose joy. Command: "Rejoice in the Lord always!" It's a command! We're commanded to be happy — do it, be free!

8. Don't always wait to be happy. "After this circumstance changes, then I'll be happy." No, because there's always something coming. Be joyful now; don't wait to be happy!

9. Talk to yourself, don't listen to yourself. "A lie is still a lie, even if you've been believing it for 40 years. The truth is still the truth, even if you've only believed it for 2 weeks." Also, don't let a "no" answer deter you from continuing to ask God. Sometimes it is his will that we ask longer.

10. Have a special place to pray.
~Andrée Seu (HT: Desiring God blog)

This truth both sustains and encourages me. Armed with this new-found wisdom, I rise up and start walking once again.



P.S. - After yesterday's decision to remove the "follow" badge, I realized doing so might make readers feel unwelcome or unwanted. Instead, I've decided to display it less prominently at the bottom of the page.