Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on
June 21, 2013 as Freedom From Fear.
Fear hinders more areas of our life and blocks our abundance in Christ more than any other enemy. When fear is in control of our lives we can not truly submit to the will of God for us because our will is not ours to submit. Fear controls our thoughts, feelings, emotions, reactions and decisions. At least that is the case if we allow it.
Fear is a bully, and like most bullies is more bluff than bite. As long as we believe that fear is in control and that we can not face it, fear will knock us down in the spiritual school yard and kick the wind from our lungs on a regular basis. We will end up beaten and bruised by an adversary too strong for us, we will duck and hide, tiptoe through our days hoping that fear doesn't spot us and attack. We may even take chemicals designed to fight fear, kind of like paying for a bodyguard, only to learn that our body guard sometimes sleeps on the job and fear still knocks us down.
Then comes the day that we wake up and realize that we don't have to take it anymore. If we face fear and get beat up it won't hurt any more than the daily beatings from this bully. It also finally occurs to us that we've been adopted and our new Daddy is the king and has promised that anyone or anything that attacks us will have to answer to him. That's bad news for any bully.
We, still afraid, turn to face the giant, crying out No more! I know that you're telling me all the bad things that can happen, and I know that they can't all come true, but even if the worst happens I will still have God's love and care and I'd rather be His child with trouble then live completely trouble free but empty! I know who I am, I am God's child, and His plans for me are good, even if it doesn't look or feel like that.
Yes, I am afraid, but I am not going to run from you anymore unless it's to my Daddy, and if you chase me all the way to Him you'll be sorry! My Daddy can whip you with one hand tied behind His back!
Sound childish? It is, and that's the point. We are God's children. Because of that we have the promise that no weapon fashioned against us will prosper, we will not be defeated, greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. These are truths, and they are not true because of our status as mighty men and women of God who never get afraid. No, they are true because we are God's precious little children, and like a child we can run to Daddy when the bully attacks and know that we are safe in His presence, no matter what.
What we find when we turn on fear with the full assurance of who our Daddy is and how much He loves us, is peace. Our circumstances may not change. We may still be hanging on the cliff with disaster below us and trouble throwing rocks from above, but our toes are braced on the solid rock of Christ, our fingers grip with renewed strength because God is on that cliff side with us, and we know it. Fear has lost its strength. In the light of God's love the bully fear finds its own nose bloodied instead of its intended victim. Fear is knocked down and cast away. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear (I John 4:18). God's love is perfect, unconditional, and without pretense. When we are filled with the understanding of His great love, His love will begin to flow with freedom into every area of our life.
Because of God's love for us it is possible to live with confidence and total freedom. We find our identity in who we are as adopted children of God and not in our past mistakes, our present conditions, or other people's opinions or expectations. God alone is our source. When we embrace His great love we can be freed from the shackles of fear and anxiety.
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