Do Not Allow Fear to Control You

One of the things that can hinder you from thriving in your current season is fear. Fear is a valid emotion. You need fear to warn you of danger—to alert you when things aren’t quite right. But fear is not valid when it begins to control you. Your transformed mind needs to set the course of your life, not your emotions. Fear is a very unpredictable emotion. It can manifest itself in many ways, and if left unattended, it can rob you of joy, immobilize you in your home and destroy your life.

Fear can produce tension, which makes you uptight and irritable. It can create and grow mistrust in you until you begin questioning the motives of everything and everyone. Fear causes unhappiness because it causes you to focus on negatives and to always look to see what is going to go wrong next. Fear instigates nervous reactions to everything. When you are afraid, a genuine smile can become the most difficult exercise. Fear can even change the way you walk and move your body.

The enemy will use different tactics and disguises to deceive you. Have you ever struggled with fear? It can attack you in your home. You start to think, is there trouble in my marriage? Are my kids heading down the wrong path? Do I have an illness? Fear can be a problem on a very personal level. Will anyone ever really love me? Is something wrong with me—something everyone sees but me? Will I ever get married? Will I ever have children? Will I grow old?

The enemy's goal is to distract you from the things of the Lord and to cause you to doubt that the Lord really cares or will do what He has promised. Fight the lies of the enemy with the truth of God's Word. Do not allow fear to control you. Instead, keep your eyes on Jesus and allow His strength and the power of the Holy Spirit to help you overcome the fear in your life.

Lord, we ask you today to deliver us from crippling fear and to give us a greater measure of faith in Your power and Your control over the course of our lives, in Christ’s name, Amen.