COURAGE, BRAVEHEART

I’m having a difficult time today. It’s so weird. Some days I feel like I could scale a mountain or conquer the world! That nothing can get me down and that I can accomplish anything I want.

And then there are other days.

Days like today where I feel completely crippled in my mental game. Fear comes in and rears its nasty head and takes over and tells me that I should be scared of everyone and of everything. That I’m not enough. That nothing is working. That everything is scary and is going to fail. That I don’t know what I’m doing. That I’m making the wrong choices. And that the future is on unsteady ground. It makes me question myself. And when that happens, I don’t always know how to combat it. Does anyone else relate to this?

FEAR.

What does the word itself invoke in you?

It makes me want to cower and hide. To jump back in bed and pull the covers up over my head and just stay there where it’s warm and safe. It makes me feel frozen. Like my feet are stuck in concrete and I can’t move, no matter how much I try or how desperately I want to. It makes me question everything. Everything about myself and my capabilities. Everything that I was so sure of yesterday. Everything that I know to be true about the Lord and who He is and that He can be trusted with all things.

That’s what I hate about fear. It gives us just enough questioning and self-doubt, just enough second-guessing, that it keeps us distracted long enough to trap us. And the moment the trap snaps on its victim, it stops us dead in our tracks. And we stay there, not knowing how to get out of it, or being so convinced of the lies we’ve been coerced into believing, that we’re okay to sit there until someone else comes and rescues us and pulls us out.

Zach Williams wrote a song called, FEAR IS A LIAR. These are the lyrics:

When he told you you’re not good enough

When he told you you’re not right

When he told you you’re not strong enough

To put up a good fight

___________

When he told you you’re not worthy

When he told you you’re not loved

When he told you you’re not beautiful

That you’ll never be enough

___________

Fear, he is a liar

He will take your breath

Stop you in your steps

Fear he is a liar

He will rob your rest

Steal your happiness

Cast your fear in the fire

‘Cause fear he is a liar

___________

When he told you were troubled

You’ll forever be alone

When he told you you should run away

You’ll never find a home

___________

When he told you you were dirty

And you should be ashamed

When he told you you could be the one

That grace could never change

___________

Fear he is a liar

He will take your breath

Stop you in your steps

Fear he is a liar

He will rob your rest

Steal your happiness

Cast your fear in the fire

‘Cause fear he is a liar

___________

Let Your fire fall and cast out all my fears

Let Your fire fall Your love is all I feel

Oh, let Your fire fall and cast out all my fears

Let Your fire fall Your love is all I feel

___________

Oh, fear he is a liar

He will take your breath

Stop you in your steps

Fear he is a liar

He will rob your rest

Steal your happiness

Cast your fear in the fire

‘Cause fear he is a liar

‘Cause fear he is a liar

Man, how true is this. FEAR IS A LIAR. It is the thing that wants so desperately to stop us. To tell us we’re not enough. To prove to us that we can’t do it, whatever it is. It wants to create panic and alarm in us, so that we freeze and choose to not move another step towards the good that is in front of us.

Fear in Webster’s dictionary is defined this way:

• An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.
• A mixed feeling of dread and reverence or the feeling of anxiety concerning the outcome of something of the safety and well-being of someone.
• The likelihood of something unwelcome happening.

These were also words used to describe fear:

Terror.

Fright.

Fearfulness.

Horror.

Alarm.

Panic.

Agitation.

Trepidation.

Dread.

Dismay.

Distress.

I immediately felt my shoulders raise and neck tense up. Stress was finding its way into my body just from those words written on paper. Look how the enemy is crafty. How he uses fear in so many ways to stop us. In my quiet moment at home today, I just told the Lord that I was scared. That I was scared about a lot of things. And I listed them out.

I’m scared about my future.

I’m scared about my finances.

I’m scared about my being able to take care of myself.

I’m scared that I might be alone forever.

I’m scared that I’ve made bad choices.

I’m scared that I misheard.

I’m scared that no one will want to be with me.

I’m scared that I am not good enough.

I’m scared that my writing sucks.

I’m just plain scared.

And the Lord gently whispered,

“I hold your future in my hands. I am your provider and protector. I am a good shepherd and I care for my sheep. I will never abandon you, for I am always with you. When you are weak, I AM strong. My sheep know my voice. Before you were born, I set you apart. Be strong and courageous, DO NOT BE AFRAID, for I will be with you wherever you go. I work all things for your good. In ME, there is NO FEAR. For perfect love casts out fear.

Stef, look back and remember. See the ways I have cared for you, loved you, provided for you, and protected you in the past. Don’t forget, dear one. But look back and remember. Go back and read your journals, see my faithfulness. I CAN BE TRUSTED.”

It is SO easy to forget. We are a people who forget. Generation after generation has needed to be reminded of the faithfulness of God. And as much as I’d like to say we’re doing better than they were. The truth is, we’re not. We forget too. We too need to be reminded constantly of the faithfulness of the Lord.

But the Lord, in all His tenderness and all His mercy, gently invites us to look back at His track record and He says,

“Don’t listen to fear. He’s a liar. I AM TRUTH. Only listen to me. Keep your eyes and ears attuned to me and your fear will dissipate and dissolve. And all that will be left will be Me, staring at you in love, encouraging you and telling you, YES YOU CAN.”

I am holding to this truth today and being reminded to look back and remember. Also, can we please talk about Lauren Daigle for a moment? This girl is so stellar and God is bringing her into her moment!! Her voice, her words, her spirit. She’s our own Christian Adele and her words and music have impacted and encouraged me so much the past couple of years. She wrote a beautiful song called REMEMBER. It goes like this:

In the darkest hour, when I cannot breathe

Fear is on my chest, the weight of the world on me

Everything is crashing down, everything I had known

When I wonder if I’m all alone

____________

I remember, I remember

You have always been faithful to me

I remember I remember

Even when my own eyes could not see

You were there, always there

____________

I will lift my eyes even in the pain

Above all the lies, I know You can make a way

I have seen giants fall, I have seen mountains move

I have seen waters part because of You

___________

I remember, I remember

You have always been faithful to me

I remember I remember

Even when my own eyes could not see

You were there, always there, with me

___________

I can’t stop thinking about

I can’t stop thinking about

I can’t stop thinking about

Your goodness, goodness

___________

I remember, I remember

You have always been faithful to me

I remember (I remember) I remember (I remember)

Even when my own eyes could not see

You were there, always there, with me

So I will continue to try to press forward in confidence, leaving fear far behind to wallow in his own sorrows. We (the Lord and I) have too much work to do, to be distracted by the likes of you.

Not today Satan. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not ever.

Press on, brave ones!