The fear factor

Someone describe fear as false evidence appearing real. 

They are right. Fear begins in the mind and develops into a thought, which when not nipped, develops into something bigger.   

I remembered waiting for an exam results, after the exams I was confident about my grades. But as I waited for the results, a thought began to develop in my mind, “what if I fail”? I couldn't shake off this thought.The mistake I made was that I gave it room to fester.

Each time the thought came, I would analyse all possible scenario, what if I do not make the expected grades? 

What if I actually failed the course? 

What if, what if? 

I kept analysing the worse case possible and the more I did that, the more fearful I became. Days before the results, I decided to do something, I wanted to be free from fear but felt powerless against it. 

By the time the results came I had worked myself into a state where I was so drained by fear I couldn't be bothered to celebrate my success. 

Here are 5 I ways I learnt to deal with fear 

Go to the word: When fear shows up: go to the word. Remind yourself of God’s word. Do not forget it. Write it in the middle of your heart. He has promised to strengthen you. Ask him for strength to overcome fear. Ask him to help you wait if you are waiting for something specific. And to show you what to do while you are waiting. 

Resist it: resisting fear is one of the ways we can control our thought. You can resist it by speaking out loud, “I am not afraid”.  “God has not given me the spirit of fear”, ‘but of a sound mind’. Say it as often as fear shows up and soon you will be begin to experience freedom from fear. 

I wrote it down, I found this scripture encouraging so much so that I wrote it down, somewhere I can see it. I read it loud first thing  in the morning until it became a of me. 

I meditated on it and other scriptures which reminded me of God’s great deliverance from fear. This helped me imagined a different outcome as I began to meditate on the word, a new picture of success started to develop in my mind’s eyes. 

I prayed about it: part of resisting fear involves writing scriptures down and meditating on it, this often leads to prayer, I became bold enough to come to my father in heaven and ask him for strength to deal with fear, I reminded him of his word “Fear not” I am with you, Be not dismay, I am your God I will strengthen you,  I will help you ,  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”

In what areas of your life have you allowed fear to paralyze you? 

Maybe you are waiting for the news of that interview, or waiting to receive a medical report or just uncertain about your life in general. Has fear been your constant companion while you wait? Have you come to a point in your life where you feel helpless against fear? 

Go to the word

Resist fear with the word

Write the word down, read it daily to become a part of you

Meditate on the word: so whenever fear show’s up, you can refer it to the word, and imagine a different picture from what fear is showing you. 

Pray. 

Employ this five ways and watch fear’s grip on you loosen, and soon you will be harmed to deal with every fiery thought of fear.

“Fear not”” has become my slogan”

Now whenever I feel fear, I call on the word. His word is love and he said perfect love cast out fear. So I speak in the word and fear is displaced For each worry I have a scripture. 

I encourage you to immerse yourself in the word and draw from its well when fear rears its ugly head. 

Relevant scriptures reading 

John 14.27

Isaiah 35:4, 41:10

Matthew 6:34

Psalm34:4, 27:1,

I can Only Imagine.

I was not sure what to expect when I attended sports day at my daughter's school recently. it was her first so it was important that we went. We attended to cheer her up and to ensure that she was not going to be the only one whose mum or dad was not present.

The day began in earnest as all the kids threw themselves in. I had instructed my daughter to run really fast on the way to school. During the race, she not only ran fast she took off like a bolt, and left everyone behind to win, her very first. I was one proud mum… Afterwards when I asked her how she did it, she said,  mum you told me to run fast and that's what I did

This got me thinking, the Olympics are currently under way and thousands of people are competing to win, they have trained for this event and are ready to compete. They all want to win.

We as Christians are also in a race, earth is our training ground and we have been instructed to run to win, that we may obtain a price.

But how?

By training our minds on all that is true, good, honest, pure, and of a good report. Only by disciplining our bodies and subjecting it to the will of God can we expect to  win.

As I watched the Olympics I was amazed by the commitment these athletes have towards their sport, some have trained for hours and months on ends sacrificing time with loved ones. They were ready in season and out of season. 2 Tim 4:2. They stayed ready.

We cannot win if we are distracted by the pressures of life, the cares of this world and the pleasures we enjoy.

How to Win:

To win in life we have to have a ready mind and a ready attitude, we need to build our muscles of faith to withstand the harsh circumstances which may come our way. We have to look to him who has called us… we need to keep our eyes on the prize, just like these contestants.

Seeing my daughter win was a great delight. Imagine, what it will be like when we are welcome to receive the prize for winning here on earth and making it to hear these words “well done” good and faithful servant”. I can only imagine.

So let us Run to win, that we may obtain a good reward.