Ohhhh he said Hell. Sorry, it’s a real place and that’s where fear comes from. There’s a song by Brian and Katie Torwalt called “Prophesy Your Promise” and in the song are the lyrics ” Fear can go to Hell, shame can go there too” Whoa, talk about powerful! To know that we have the authority to tell fear it doesnt have a hold and it has to go back to where it came from is HUGE!
If you asked me I would tell you I’m someone that doesn’t really deal with fear, for the most part. Of the few things I’m afraid of storms is probably the biggest. Why? I came face to face with a tornado when I was 9 and the Lord completely protected me from being seriously hurt or killed. (If you want to know the story you can shoot me a message!) I would say I’m fairly bold and I don’t get intimidated by situations or stuff like that. Cue month 5 in Nepal and the Lord starts talking to me about Fear of Man. Naturally I was like, “No, I don’t deal with that” WRONG. He begins revealing all these times where I allow what others think dictate what I do or say, or how I make decisions. It started a series of letters and messages that I had to send to people either asking for forgiveness or forgiving them and telling them I am no longer being bound by what people think. Its not been an easy process and almost 3 months later I’m still trudging through it, but I’m seeing the fruit from beginning to walk in that freedom.
I recently had a phone call with my coaches from The Race and they asked what the Lord has been teaching me or walking me through and this is the topic I brought up. They made an interesting point as well, they talked about how Fear of Man can be so crippling to a person and their identity, but that it is also healthy to have some fear. We have a fear of the Lord or you could even call it reverence. It’s a healthy respect to have. We have respect for snakes or lions or spiders, fires, storms all sorts of things that could cause us harm and its healthy to have that “fear.” The issue is when it becomes crippling and we begin to dwell on that fear and not on what Jesus says about us. 2 Timothy 1:7 says: God will never give you the spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit who gives you mighty power, love, and self-control.
Fear in the negative context is not of the Lord and you were created to walk in courage and boldness. So the next time fear tries to creep in, tell it to go back to where it came from and remind yourself of the truth of what Jesus says about you.
My prayer for you is that you would be set free from the fear of man and that you would walk in who you were created to be. That the opinions of others would not be able to affect or offend you and instead of timidity you would have boldness and courage to bring Kingdom wherever you are and go.
Be blessed!
Ty
