This world is a scary place filled with dangerous and, sometimes frightening, circumstances, Even though this is the case, fear doesn't need to be a controlling part of the victor's life. Yes, there are times when fear will make the victor and the victim thinker do things that aren't in their best interests, but I think that fear can be dealt with in ways that can make victor living possible even in the face of fear. I believe that there are two things we can do to help fear play a role that is less and less impacting in our lives today.
The first thing I want us to consider when fear is concerned is control. So much of the fear I face comes when I believe that I'm being put in positions where I have less and less control. I'll give you and example in my life. I have a lot of fear surrounding flying. The fear I feel doesn't come with the thought that I'm going to die in a crash. My fear of flying comes as a result of control. Sitting in that metal tube five miles in the sky with someone I don't even know at the controls makes me squirm just thinking about that prospect. I get that same fear in situations where I have to give up control in varying degrees. Fear and control are linked in ways that I think we all can agree makes fear something we have to deal with when control is the issue.
I love what God says is a potential answer to the kinds of fear based on control.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)
Our first means of dealing with fear is to actually take control. I believe that taking captive every thought gives me a power that I feel I'm forfeiting sitting in seat 24A on that airplane relinquishes in my life. I have a power that is God-given to take control of every thought. It isn't an easy prospect in the middle of fear to take control of my thoughts, but I have that choice and simply fail to exercise that power as much as I should when fear is concerned.
I came across this interesting quote about fear that helps make the point about control.
“FEAR = ‘False Evidence Appearing Real’. It is when I catastrophize – overestimating the danger and underestimating my ability to cope.” Nicky & Pippa Gumbel - Bible In One Year Devotional - Day 12
False evidence appearing real... overestimating the danger and underestimating my ability to cope - that's the way fear works in my life fear. Fear presents a picture of the future that I buy into. My thoughts take that picture and turn it into a reality that doesn't exist. This is a fact that all fears we face utilize to gain access and control in the life of a victor.
If loss of control drives my fears, today's Bible reading gives me the authority to take control back. I can control by taking captive those thoughts that are painting a picture of reality that just doesn't exist. When I sit in that seat of that airplane, my fear comes as I feel helpless and uninvolved in the safety and comfort of my journey. As I take those thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ, I begin to see that my ability to deal with the situation is so much more than I'm allowing myself to believe. I need to see the false evidence that is weighing me down and get freed up by capturing my thoughts in a way where my reality is what it is that I am experiencing at that moment, not what my mind might conjure up in the future.
By taking captive those thoughts that are trying to invent a reality that doesn't exist I get control that helps me deal with the fear that comes from losing control. This is the first resource we all have when it comes to fear in our lives. The second resource I want to highlight is identity. Knowing who we are and demanding that we live out the fullness of that identity is a powerful way to deal with fear.
This point was driven home to me one day as I watch a video of a worship song being sung by some talented folks from Bethel Music. In the video called "No Longer A Slave" the young lady at the end of the song stands defiantly and screams "I am a Child of God." The first time my eyes were opened to her performance chills literally ran down my spine.
She sang with such conviction and authority about her identity that it made me think about the connection to identity and dealing with fear. It's almost like she has known the battle against fear in ways that made it so that she simply refuses to let go of her precious identity. It's an anthem of defiance in the face of tragedy, defeat, overwhelm and loss. Her voice and posture is as though all is lost but it doesn't matter because she is God's child. It's as though she is spitting in the enemy's face saying nothing matters - this fear is nothing because I am His child! There is something powerful about proclaiming who you are, especially when things are happening around you that make you doubt your identity.
I believe that fear would have such little to do with our lives if we confronted our fear with the kind of passion and animation this woman sang in that video. It is when we care nothing about this life other than being God's Child that fear of lose, fear of harm, even fear of death takes a back seat in ways that make fear almost irrelevant.
Look, I know how debilitating fear can be in our lives. There was a time when I simply could not force myself to get on an airplane. Since that time, God has done a lot of work in this victor's life. I now know what it is to be God's Child. I've learned how to take control of my situation by taking control of my thoughts in ways that allow me to view reality in the present and not in the future. I'm figuring out how to stand in the face of the evil that scares me so and scream at the top of my lungs that "I am His Child!" All of this is making it possible for me to deal with fears in ways that are making a difference.
Fear isn't going to never not be a part of this life as long as we are on this side of heaven. I just don't want fear to be what makes it possible for me to miss out on life in ways that God never intended for me. I know that I will always be controlled by fears in one way or another but want that control to be lessened by who I am and by the power He has given me. I hope you put into play these two powerful strategies of dealing with fears as the world does its best to get you into places where your victor status can be doubted today.
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