Day 3: Walking through another “no dairy, no sugar” fast means spending time in God’s Word with a heart of prayer and trusting Him for wisdom in small increments!

Have you stopped to think about how fear rules the world? I think COVID has brought that to light! But it is certainly no surprise since Satan has governing authority over all the earth, for now. Yet, believers in Jesus have been bought out of this world and given the Holy Spirit of God to empower a life of TRUST. When we trust God and rely on the Holy Spirit to provide that power, we can withstand enemy attacks (Ephesians 6:10-18).

I started examining the many commands from Scripture that state “do not be afraid” or “Fear not,” and passages instructing us not to be anxious or worry! Can I just say, there is a numerous amount in both the Old and New Testaments? Additionally, reasons are often given as to why a Christian is not to worry or be afraid. Beyond the explanations as to why fear is not necessary, many times promises are given if we do not fear.

A verse I have memorized and recite often is 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV).

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Fear is not from God! The enemy is shrewd. He knows how paralyzing a simple fear can be and how easily it multiplies. Fear just might be Satan’s greatest weapon and his most effective!

I recently read a story that I cannot get out of my head. I want a sound mind like she has!

When the Communists overran China, missionary Isobel Kuhn escaped on foot with her young son, Danny, across the dangerous snow-covered Pienma Pass. She finally arrived at Myitkyina in Upper Burma, but there she was stranded “at the world’s end” without money, unable to speak the language, and still half a globe away from home. “I cannot tell you the dismay and alarm that filled me,” she later wrote.

But in her perplexity, she made two decisions. “The first thing is to cast out fear,” she said. “The only fear a Christian should entertain is the fear of sin. All other fears are from Satan sent to confuse and weaken us. How often the Lord reiterated to His disciples, ‘Be not afraid!’” So Isobel knelt and spread her heart before Him. “I refused to be afraid and asked Him to cast such fears out of my heart.”

Her second determination was to “seek light for the next step.” She had no idea how to get out of Asia, but with God’s help she could figure out what to do that day to provide food and funds, to find a safe place to stay, to find a means of communicating with the outside world.

Eventually she arrived back home, safe and sound, but it came by trusting God for guidance in small increments. 

The Red Sea Rules, Robert J. Morgan

Let’s leave fear behind and major on what God has given us: A sound mind with power and love.