What do you do when fear overpowers you? I had a frightened call from Debbie yesterday.
She was totally beside herself.
She had just gotten off the bus and was at a physical as well as spiritual crossroads.
She was totally consumed with fear, crying and shaking uncontrollably.
Someone involved in occult practices had threatened that, if she did not follow through on a tentative promise she had made, there would be consequences.
Debbie, who had recently accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior, had run out of that house fighting against these spiritual threats as well as physical attempts to detain her.
"Freaked out" would be a good term to describe her state of mind.
She got off the bus because she was afraid to go home and was waiting for the connection to come here.
She did not know what to do about the fear that overpowered her.
In the natural, it is a fearful thing to be threatened, especially if you do not understand what you're up against.
I picked her up at the bus stop and over the course of the afternoon we prayed and I opened up the Scriptures that assure you that: "The name of the Lord is a strong tower.
The righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
" (Prov.
18: 10) She is learning what to do when fear tries to overpower her! Praise the Lord! When you call on the Name of the Lord, you shall be saved from your enemies.
(2 Sam: 22: 3-4) After all, as Christians we're not immune from the evil in the world.
On the contrary; we are Satan's target, and his preferred tool is fear.
Once you're steeped in fear, which is the opposite of faith, then you can be manipulated by your thoughts.
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour; whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
But...
God make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
" (1 Pet.
5: 8-10) You have to be aware of the fact that the devil is 'as a roaring lion.
He only acts as if he's a lion, who roars to strike fear in its prey in order to immobilize it.
But the devil is not a lion.
He has no power over you at all.
Jesus has defeated him on the cross once and for all! It is done! And you received the Holy Spirit when you asked Him into your heart: "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.
" (1 John 4: 4) and: "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
" (2 Tim.
1: 7) Isn't it wonderful how God has provided you with every tool to live a life of victory? When all of Israel was fearful of the giant Goliath, there was one person who knew what his God-given weapons were and how to use them against this enemy.
No, the slingshot wasn't David's weapon; neither were the five smooth stones he picked up in the brook.
His one weapon was that he knew that this enemy was not to be defeated by physical weaponry.
He defeated him "in the name of the Lord, the God of the armies of Israel"! (1 Sam.
17: 45) David's unwavering faith guided his slingshot.
He knew that he knew that the Lord would have the victory through him.
That's why the Lord says that the battle is His, not yours.
(2 Chron.
20: 15) He may use the physical, like David's slingshot, but the battle is in the spiritual realm.
"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.
" (Isa.
54: 17) God commanded Joshua three times to be strong and without fear because He would be with him in every battle.
You have the very same promise: He will never leave you nor forsake you! (Heb.
13: 5) Dear one, use the Name of the Lord in all your battles.
Debbie is learning to wield this weapon and is well on her way to victory.
So can you!