I have written about fear over a couple of times on this blog, you can catch up on that here and here
The bible tells us about the fiery darts of the enemy that flies around and tells us how to quench it in Ephesians 6:16 . Let me try to paint a pictorial representation of this fiery dart.
Take up the shield of faith in which you can quench the fiery darts of the enemy.
EPHESIANS 6:16
On a great day, infact everyday I am a strong fearless believer and I have so much confidence in my Jesus, in His finished works on the cross, His victory over every form of oppression or death and I believe that as His friend I have such victory.
I go about my life thrilled, excited, optimistic and expectant of everything He has promised to do for me. Then some days just come, something happens, something triggers something in my heart/mind and then I start to doubt, I start to fear.
For the split second when I just shifted my gaze off of Jesus, the enemy is able to attack my mind with the fiery dart of fear.
The enemy is always looking for an appointed time to attack our lives with its fiery dart(s), they tend to capitalize on our weaknesses most of the times.
And as I have grown in faith, I understand that fear may be a weakness that we all have in common at different times of our lives that the enemy may just try to capitalize on: The fear of past failures repeating itself, The fear of not accomplishing all that God has set for us to achieve , The fear of dying lonely and unaccomplished , The fear of losing loved ones, The fear of the unknown and the list can go on and on….
Therefore it is our responsibility to always reinforce our shield against the devil, this shield is our faith! But how can this shield be reinforced to help us gain victory?
A quick reminder before I go into how to reinforce our shield of faith.
Do not shift your gaze off Jesus!
Do everything that helps to keep your thoughts, your mind, and focus on Jesus. Peter, Jesus’s disciple tried to walk on water(the sea) ; and as long as he had his eyes and focus on Jesus Christ who was across the shore he had faith and he kept moving towards Jesus. But the bible records a moment when Peter’s gaze shifted to the boisterous wind for a slight second, then he started to doubt. That was the moment the enemy saw to plant the seed of fear and Peter started to sink
Jesus had to stretch his hand to him to save him, and the first thing Jesus asked him was, “Why did you doubt?!” Matthew 14:22-31
For me, worship helps me to realign my gaze and focus on Jesus. Reminiscing on how great He is, the tough situations He has brought me through helps me recalibrate my focus on and to Him.
I implore you today not to take your eyes off Him, He is mighty to save, fear not!
He keeps he/she whose mind is stayed upon Him in perfect peace.
Isaiah 26:3
Guard your Heart Diligently (Proverbs 4:23)
Everything that we do, accomplish starts from the mind. Take for example, being saved- we have to believe in our minds that Jesus Christ died for our sins and Believe Him as our saviour to receive salvation. That is why the wise man who wrote the book of proverbs tells us that we should guard our heart diligently because out of it flows the issues of our hearts. Proverbs 4:23
We can guard our hearts by screening the things we listen to. For example a friend that always confesses negative thoughts and always has nothing positive to say should be avoided.
We should instead fill our hearts with the word of God which brings life, victory, reassurance, faith and so on to our minds.
This leads me to the next and final deet of this blog post.
Guard your heart with all diligence, out of it flows issues of your life
Proverbs 4:23
Let the Word of God encourage you
The first step for letting the word of God encourage you is by seeking Him, seeking to hear Him through His word( the bible). His still small voice, loud audible voice, in dreams and so on.
I will share my testimony in the bid to allow you get a picture of what I mean.
Sometime ago, during my vacation I sought the face of the Lord. I decided to just be with Him, to hear what He has to say to me. On the Second day, I heard Him clearly say to me, “In your anxiety, I am with you”
I was excited to hear God speak to me audibly but this did not make full sense to me until a month later and the months to come.
Anxiety came into my life, I was anxious for many reasons, so anxious and somewhat fearful words cannot start to describe it.
Until a moment came, when I remembered the word of the Lord to me. Then I was greatly encouraged in my spirit, then it spread to my mind and body. I went ahead to search this phrase out in the bible, “When God is with you” Then I began to see chapters where God said to His children He was with them and instances where the bible says,”God was with him/her”” and I read how their stories ended.
God was with Joseph to the extent that He blessed Potiphar just because Joseph was in his house, God was with Him even in the prison and He rose to greatness. God was with Jacob and He became Israel, God was with Joshua, he did great things ever recorded in history, God was with the Israelites until l they chose to disobey Him and the list went on.
This was so encouraging and faith building! Believe me when I say words do not and cannot describe it.
That is why I write to you this day to seek God for yourself, spend time with Him, worshipping, reading His word and asking Him to speak to you. He will!
Those who diligently seek me will find me- God
Proverbs 8:17