FIGHTING FEAR

You know how you go to sleep and while your sleeping the Lord just speaks.  Well, I woke up with this very topic in my head this morning.  I tried to get this post out of my head, but it has followed me in my heart. All. Day. Long.  This is challenging for me to write about as I DAILY battle with "it"  in my life.

 F.E.A.R.!!!!!!  There it is ladies.  Yep, I am putting it out there! I can't stand it and it is wreaking havoc in my life and the lives of others I know. Sheesh! So let's talk about it.


What Is It?
I have heard it said by my Pastor, Kevin James, fear is False Evidence Appearing Real.  In my life what does it look like daily.  Well, let's see... It sounds and looks a little bit like this:

Because...

• I am not qualified to talk about God's Word and pour it into to others....It appears in the form of me not sitting at my desk writing a post.  
• I didn't live a life honoring to the Lord in my childhood years...It appears as me fighting the thoughts of am I going to mess my kids up in the head. 
• I was "last minute lucy" in applying to colleges... It appears as me conversing with my teenager for the 20th time about college choices, as if he is going in the Spring and is not a junior in high school. 
• I have no skill set like ANYONE from HGTV...  It appears as my house isn't "show" ready, so how could I possibly reflect a Proverbs 31 woman? Or let alone pour in to woman for that matter about biblical womanhood.(Even though, it truly is NOT a priority on my list. I'd rather cook. I'm a lover of good cooked meals.)
• I didn't respond well to my spouse...It appears that I will NEVER get victory over my responses to my spouse.

On and on it goes.... I could continue on, but then it would just sound like a pity party.

What Is So Wrong With Fear?

Here is what I have found:


1. Fear is not the TRUTH!  It's that simple. As a woman of faith, God has revealed to me that it is in my failures where God gets ALL the glory and draws others to himself. When I allow fear to control me from doing, going, or being the person God created me to be; I will be stagnant and therefore, never able to fulfill His glorious plan for my life. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.  What has God revealed to you that you are to be doing to fulfill His purpose in your life? 

2.  Fear is a TACTIC!  I have recognized that fear is a tactic the devil uses to thwart my purpose in Christ.    The devil has strategies to take us off the grid of living for God intentionally.  Listen to what scripture says in John 10:10.  The thief(Satan) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  Okay, so this is crazy!  This verse makes it so clear about why Satan comes.  First of all, he's not even trying to step to you UNLESS you are living for God. Plain and simple.  Satan is the father of  death.  God is the Father of life.  So, I am either going in one direction or the other.  Ouch.  This is convicting ya'll.  Jesus came (not just past, but present perfect-for now and for all time to come) so we can have not just life eternally, but life abundantly!  He wants us to live in Him while we are living on earth.  So, I have to allow the abundant living Christ paid for to wash over my thoughts, wash over my heart, wash over what I should be doing for His glory!

3.  Fear is a TIME WASTER!  OOOOWEEE!  The Lord is speaking to me today!  Fear is a time waster.  I just began to think about the times DAILY when I have a thought that is crippled by fear and how long I can go through the what if's, instead of just being obedient and saying yes!  If I fall on my face, SO WHAT!  I'm falling hard for Jesus!  That's why the 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 ,8 Concerning this thing I(Paul) pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. When I fall there is a humbling that takes places and a dependence on Christ to pick me up.  I am time wasting when I just keep analyzing, because I am prideful thinking "How can I not fall?  How can I look good?  How can I boast in my self and what I am doing?"  WHAT IN THE WORLD!!!!! I am ignoring a need for God and ultimately am going to end up back at reliance on self, which ALWAYS brings forth death.  HELP ME LAWD!!!!  

Ya'll I am just pouring forth my soul, because this is REAL in my life right now.  It's crazy too, because by the grace of God, I believe God for crazy stuff for others, but not for myself.  Don't get me wrong,  I mean me sitting at my computer RIGHT NOW is an act of obedience!  I literally have to shift from fear to faith, EVERY SINGLE TIME I right a post or speak at an event.  This is as REAL as it gets in my life right now.  So, I have come to a resolution today:  If we error, let's err on the side of obedience(what God is asking of us to do). Whose with me?

Pause: Reread the following scripture passages listed above. 

Ponder: Make 2 columns with, "What God Says" & What God Is Saying To Me" in regards to the things that you are allowing fear to control.  

Petition:  Tell Him.  Listen.  Do.

LESSONS LEARNED IN LOSS

Wow! It's been awhile.  Summer is over, the kids are back in school and I am back to sharing my heart with you.  The Lord has been so kind to choose me to display His glory and I am so thankful.  No, it's not easy. There is joy and their is sadness.  There is burden and their is ease. And trust me when I say,

 There is no other place I'd rather be than in the center of His will.

I say all of this to share what has been happening in my life.  Two months ago K.O. and I found out that the Lord saw fit to bless us with a new addition to our family.  We were quite in shock, as we felt the Lord leading us to look more into the foster to adoption process.  And Lord knows I am not to have a baby and adopt a child at the same time!

After we had gotten over the shock, we began to embrace God's sovereign will for our lives and trust Him.  I went to my first appointment and checked in with my doc and minutes after my spirit began to be uneasy.  (If anyone knows me, they know I am a faithwalker or "optimistic".  I take to heart "All things work together for the good..."  So, I brushed it off as if I didn't feel what I was feeling.  Shortly thereafter, the doctor communicated he heard no heartbeat and wanted me to get an ultrasound immediately.  I go for the ultrasound, hear the the baby's heartbeat (strong at 155 bpm) and all is good.  Well, my spirit was still unsettled.

Upon waiting for my doctor (who did not arrive until 45-50 min. later) a lady knocks on the door and says, "Have you been seen by the doctor?" I said, "No, I haven't."  She said, I am so sorry.  I think he may have forgotten you were still here."  Ya'll know it was the Holy Spirit, because in a moment where I could have embraced my flesh and "go COMPLETELY off", the HOLY SPIRIT spoke truth.  

The Lord said, " I know they forgot about you, but YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN! I see you. You are known before me!  I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you!  And just like that ya'll the gentle presence of my God, my Father and my Friend calmed my fears and settled my soul. 

I love this God I serve!  This is why HE is the lover of my soul. I love Him and let me tell you something about this moment.  At this moment, I knew God was preparing me and my heart for something.  Something MORE!  Something that was not about me, but about resting in "it is well, with my soul".  I love how God gave me full notice, before K.O. and I went through the storm of loss. 

Our precious baby Oliver went home to be with the Lord on Friday, August 22, 2014. 

Here is what I know, is that God doesn't randomly select or roll dice to see who He is going to put into battle.  No, He is very intentional in what He does to display His glory in our lives.  Today, my heart shares with you what I learned through this storm.

Lesson #1: LIFE BEGINS AT CONCEPTION.  
As a follower of Christ, I am Pro Life because God made us in His image and I believe I don't control what the designer does. Jeremiah 1:5 says, "I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born".  Because our baby was so young, and I had the sweet privilege to hear the heart beat(beating strong) God wanted me to know it's not just about these babies being made in His image. No, this is a life!  A life with plans to display His glory and what He wants done, He will do.  He needs no assistance from us.

Lesson #2: GOD DOES ALL HIS HOLY WILL.
I know that God is sovereign and I have shared this with many others that I have ministered to.  Yet, it was not until this precious time that the Lord made it clear.  I remember speaking to my doctor the morning of, before our baby went home to be with the Lord.  I communicated with him what I perceived was taking place.( I knew this because this is our third miscarriage).  Yet, when I spoke to him, he assured me that as he looked at the ultrasound that NOTHING was wrong with the embryo sac and the baby's heartbeat was STRONG.  Once, again God gave me peace and told me not to debate this doctor.  This is the EXACT scripture he gave me while speaking with him.  Psalm 8:4-5 "What is man that You remember him, the son of man that You look after him?  You made him little less than God and crowned him with glory and honor." The Word that God kept sticking out is "YOU", which refers to God, creator of the Universe and ALL things within it!  Doctors are NOT the final answer, GOD IS!  God remembers, looks after and crowned me & this baby with glory and honor out of His power, His grace, and His will.  So,  God chooses what He wants to write on my blank check of life.

 He does what His holy will wants and He does it to display His fingerprints on my life!  

 Lesson #3:  GOD TAKES US THROUGH SO WE CAN ENCOURAGE OTHERS.
I love this.  Over the past 4 months I have had a scripture on my refrigerator and I didn't know why.  I would pass by it, read it and keep it moving.  Well, the Lord revealed why it was on my fridge, "for such a time as this".  2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may comfort those who are in ANY affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.   Do ya'll see what I see? Yep!  What I went through was an opportunity that not all of us have.  I had the sweet privilege of being comforted by my loving God, so I can comfort another through ANY affliction.  And not comfort them in just my life experience, but comfort them with the comfort from a HOLY God and Savior Jesus Christ who loved, suffered, went and died to redeem this very moment with understanding, comfort and hope to know Him in a deeper more meaningful way.  And that is what I would call, "PRICELESS"! 

Today, take time to reflect on your loss.  Is it a job, a loved one, a wayward child, a financial situation, relationship, or just an unmet expectation that you have been believing God for?  Be honest with yourself and the Lord. I will tell you a secret, "HE ALREADY KNOWS".  He wants you to voice it to Him, so He can lift that burden, carry it and comfort you. It ALL boils down to choice. 

xoxo,
Sheb


PAUSE: Read the following verses of scripture.  Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 8:4-5, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.

PONDER: What is God saying about Himself in the verses?  What is God saying about you in the verses?  What is your take away?

PRAY: Tell Him. Listen. Do.