The opposite of love is not hate. It’s fear. 
How many lives have been destroyed because of fear? How many marriages ruined, how many children scarred, how many dreams unfulfilled and how many people chained in the terrifying prison of addiction because of fear? So many of us are experiencing a life half-lived. We cower in the shadows, afraid to confront the wounds we need to expose to God’s light.
This hissing snake tells us no one will understand if we share our feelings. It says people could never love us and God could never forgive us if they knew who we really are. It keeps us trapped in cycles of people-pleasing, perfectionism, anxiety, and hypocrisy. Fear causes us to smile to mask our sadness, laugh to distract from our thoughts, and self-medicate to numb ourselves from our terror.
It steals our peace of mind, rattles our faith like a rag doll and sends our broken emotions on a continually swinging pendulum. It suffocates. It breathes against the window of our hearts like a panting monster. It beats a refrain of “What if?” and taunts us with the perpetual thought that God isn’t there.
Fear is a liar.
Truth usually has very little to do with our feelings. Our emotions were damaged when sin cursed this world. Our emotions dip and dive with alarming speed, but God and His truth doesn’t.
Sometimes I forget that the enemy of our souls is not omniscient. He can’t read my mind. He can only watch and observe to plan his schemes against God’s kids. So do you know what I do? I call him out.
A family member was recently struggling with some serious spiritual issues. My heart was heavy as I drove across town. I started dwelling on all the “what ifs” and worst case scenarios that might write her story. Then I remembered this empowering verse:
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” ~James 4:7
Something fierce rose up in my spirit. Through tears, I spoke aloud to the enemy.
“Satan, by the name of Jesus Christ, the name above all names, I command you to leave my family alone. You have no power here. I have no strength or ability in my own right, but I claim the strength and blood of Jesus. You will not have my loved one. In Jesus’ name, you will leave.”
An hour later, that loved one who had been struggling so much gave her life to Jesus.
Fear is indeed a liar, but the strength and love of Jesus can send it packing.
“But now, this is what the Lord says…Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1
Let’s chat. What do you fear the most? I would love to hear!
This spoke to my heart. I’ve been struggling a long time. I have brokenness that I deal with all the time. I am a child of God. I needed to hear this today.
I am praying for you, Angie!
Fear can cripple us and make us feel unworthy, but praise the Lord, satan will NEVER win. Thank you for this because some time in our life, we all have doubted. I love to read your posts because I know they are God’s inspiration.
Thank you so much, Lacey!
This post spoke to my heart. I lived in fear of my dad’s anger. I lived in fear of my emotionally abusive (gaslighting) ex husband. Paralyzing fear. Fear that made me thought about ending my life rather than live with his man who had no thought for my safety or feelings.
God finally told me to divorce him in 2012. Every now and then he does something that still drives a knife into my heart. Fear is horrible. It has been so hard for me to believe I am worth anything…much less a treasure…because i have been told i was no good for so long and my ex had affair after affair. I still never feel good enough. I am lonely and isolated and disabled from chronic Lyme disease so I am homebound. Your stories are treasures to my soul and point me to God. Thank you. I long to feel like i am a loved daughter,
Oh my friend, you are a treasure! Consider this…
Pretend you are walking down a city sidewalk and you see Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting carelessly, shocking tossed into a dumpster. What?! Starry Night? One of the most infamous, priceless paintings of all time?
Just because you found it in the dumpster, does that changed the paintings worth? No, of course not. All is does is tell you that the person who threw it away had no idea what they were doing. They obviously had no concept of the painting’s worth.
It’s the same for you, dear Mary. You have immeasurably worth. Don’t continue to mourn over someone who had no concept of your worth. Jesus thought you were worth dying for. BIG HUGS!