The F word!

FEAR!

I've struggled with FEAR all of my life..when I was a child, I feared everything! If I even heard there was a storm, I FEARED that we would get struck by lightening. (OK even at 42, lightening and thunder scare me to pieces!) Since Katrina, if I hear of possible flooding, I FEAR that my house will flood again. When I was little I FEARED the boogie man would come (we had some pretty popular 70's horror flicks!) I FEARED my family would die, I FEARED I didn't fit in at school, I FEARED that people wouldn't like me, I FEARED that I would let people down, I FEARED everything!

Now I'm a grown woman and unfortunately I have to say....I've Feared ever since! It's easy to be at ease and comfortable during the good times, but my stinkin thinkin made me doubt even in the good times that MAYBE something bad was going to happen.

During the hard times...I'd have to say that I'm in the hard times...my family is in the hard times...and Fear has taken over my life on many days, I mean MANY days! I KNOW God's Word! I've said it, I've preached it, I've handed it out to everyone that'll listen, and yet I still have that struggle during the rough days to believe that I can HAND it to God and He has it ALL under control. Maybe it's the stubborn, hard headed, controlling part of me that has  a hard time believing that someone that loves me so much would take every care away and handle it for me. I'm a mom, and have been a single one for most of my children's lives, so I have to handle it. I have to remember for everyone. I have to plan it all out. I have to make sure it's working smoothly. I have to fix everything...(sound familiar????) I need an assistant just to keep up with our Dr's appts!! so how can I just hand over my Fears? What if I let go? What if it doesn't get better? What if? What if? What if? sigh....Isn't that exhausting?? How many times a day do we wonder WHAT IF?  well....

This is where it needs to stop! I pulled some great scriptures from Renee Swopes "A Confident Heart" book and let me just tell you.....I NEED this to survive! We all do!

So I am declaring that TODAY is.."I'm trying my best to NOT let Fear stand before my Faith Day!" Notice that I didn't say that I was NEVER going to let Fear stand before my Faith?? I know darn good and well, that it'll still happen but I will try my BEST to make it happen and every day read the Truth...and the Truth shall set me free! :-)

Please read the scriptures and let's let Faith stand before Fear!

Every time doubt threatens to cast a shadow over our hearts, let’s run back to Jesus, turn toward the Light of His Truth, and stand in the shadow of the Cross.   In the shadow of the Cross – everything changes:

When you feel inadequate, God says: You are CHOSEN.
“‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he’” (Isa. 43:10).

When you feel afraid, God says: You are REDEEMED.
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine” (Isa. 43:1).

When you feel unloved, God says: You are LOVED.
“You are precious and honored in my sight, and . . . I love you” (Isa. 43:4).

When you feel forgotten, God says: You are REMEMBERED.
“See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isa. 49:16).

When you feel insecure, God says: You are SECURE.
“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders” (Deut. 33:12).

When you feel unable or unstable, God says: You are ABLE.
“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights” (Hab. 3:19).

When you feel worthless, God says: You are CALLED.
“You are a chosen [woman], a royal [priest], a holy [daughter], God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Pet. 2:9).