Fear to Faith

As a child on the outside I appeared like a normal young girl, but on the inside I lived in fear. I feared my parents would divorce, I feared being alone, I feared someone would abduct me, I feared failure, I feared nothing was in my control. My fears paralyzed me and I struggled in the dark to find some form of warm light to rescue me from my internal nightmare.

At ten years old my mother surrendered her life to Christ, in doing so she surrendered her children to Him as well. Even when I did not know Him, He knew me. He was always by my side watching over me until the day I learned His name and asked Him to live in my heart. God is so good and faithful. He rescued me from a life that was doomed for destruction and gave me hope. He took away my fear and replaced it with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

Even though God is good and faithful, the flesh is not. I had ten years of my life controlled by fear that forced me into habits and patterns that were not from God. No one ever told me to "let go and let God." Instead I had to survive, to protect, to preserve myself. My struggle for control did not suddenly disappear when I accepted Christ as my savior. I had to learn how to yield my will to the Father; I had to learn what the Father's will was. I was given a heart transplant but my earthly body remained. While we live in the body on earth we are in the process of renewing our minds day by day. God sees us as saints, we are righteous before His throne but because of the nature of our earthly vessel we are still capable of sin and we often become victim to its temptations. No one is good, not one.

I am here to shout from the rooftop that there is hope for those who place their faith in Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross because we are no longer a slave to sin, no longer powerless to temptation, no longer alone in our battles.

Romans 5:3-5 we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; perseverance proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Our suffering is used to "bring about" that which was given to us the moment we received Christ. The Greek word for bring is katergazomai which means to bring out something that is already present. If you proclaim to be a Christ follower you have the power to overcome anything by the inner strength God has given you through the Holy Spirit.

Life Application: Take time to ask God to reveal what battle you are fighting that you need to hand over to the Father. Ask God to reveal where you are relying on your own strength, knowledge and power and turn it over to the sovereign Lord on high!

Marriage Application: same as above...focus on your marriage struggle, your thoughts, attitudes and actions towards your spouse.

Going deeper: 2 Chronicles 20 is an excellent narrative story which reveals God taking over the battle.