Fear: to be afraid of something. In my opinion, it is often times something unknown or something that you may have "failed" in before. In reference to God, fear of God is to be in awe of Him-absolute awe.
You know, I never know what I'm going to write about when I write. God floods my heart with experience, wisdom, understanding, love, passion, insight, Himself. The topic on my heart is actually "The Bride of Christ" because that's what I'm learning about in this season. But oh my goodness I am SO hesitant to write this post because I want to make sure I get it right!!
I realized this week, the Lord was bringing to the surface certain fears and insecurities. Even now, I'm having incredible difficulty typing this post. The enemy does not want us to experience freedom nor does he want us to operate at our fullest potential in Christ Jesus. He's not even a little creative, but he is persistent at pushing your buttons or pinpointing your weaknesses. You have to persevere more than Him. For me, he seeks to take away my voice, he seeks to prevent me from stepping out beyond my comfort zone into the areas the Lord is leading me to.
I have had a misconstrued view of truth and now that I'm coming out on the other side, knowing God's voice more and more, the enemy does not want my breakthrough to spread to those around me.
But guess what? We do not live constrained by the desires of the enemy. We do not entertain thoughts he plants within our minds. We owe satan absolutely nothing.
Fear is one of the tactics of the enemy for sure- and it's the EXACT opposite of who God is. God is love. Fear seeks to freeze us and prevent us from moving forward into who God has destined us to be. Fear seeks to prevent us from reaching out to the person we may have hurt so that our relationship can be restored to the healthiness God designed it to have. Fear can completely be debilitating but it doesn't have to be!!!
Perfect love casts out fear.
One of my greatest fears was not speaking up, not communicating, not expressing who I was/am. This seriously puts a lot of pressure on a heart and it can be overwhelming, and when your heart starts to feel pain or even unnecessary pressure (there is good pressure)- really take your heart before the Lord. Seek accountability from people around you. One of the ways I started to push past the fear of speaking, communication and expression was by opening up to someone I trusted. A huge thing that helped was going into deeper intimacy with God and allowing Him to show me who I was as I pursued who He was. It's incredible how the further into God's heart you go that almost subconsciously you step into who you are! That was my experience. I didn't even realize I didn't know who I was but as I pressed into God and sought greater intimacy, I found who I was!
One of my most recent fears was to sing FULLY. I started to sing about 1.5 years ago, it's been a whirlwind of a journey. As I've been growing in confidence and pushing past certain comfort zones, insecurity was FLARING up. Ironic, I know. My friend is a professionally trained musician and he is one of the people who pushes me because he knows I'm capable of more than I give credit for. But I had a fear that was hindering my voice. I was afraid of sounding "bad" to the people around me and was completely forgetting that I sing to Jesus and unto Him! So in this case, the fear was broken off primarily by me surrendering to God- surrendering the desire to sound "pleasant" to the ears of those around me. The second thing that broke it off was stepping out and singing with all I had- straight to my Father's heart because I love Him. And guess what? Once I surrendered to God and locked eyes with Jesus, I hit the notes and vibrato that my friend was challenging me to sing- and I hit it with ease.
So I have a simple question for you:
You know, I never know what I'm going to write about when I write. God floods my heart with experience, wisdom, understanding, love, passion, insight, Himself. The topic on my heart is actually "The Bride of Christ" because that's what I'm learning about in this season. But oh my goodness I am SO hesitant to write this post because I want to make sure I get it right!!
I realized this week, the Lord was bringing to the surface certain fears and insecurities. Even now, I'm having incredible difficulty typing this post. The enemy does not want us to experience freedom nor does he want us to operate at our fullest potential in Christ Jesus. He's not even a little creative, but he is persistent at pushing your buttons or pinpointing your weaknesses. You have to persevere more than Him. For me, he seeks to take away my voice, he seeks to prevent me from stepping out beyond my comfort zone into the areas the Lord is leading me to.
I have had a misconstrued view of truth and now that I'm coming out on the other side, knowing God's voice more and more, the enemy does not want my breakthrough to spread to those around me.
But guess what? We do not live constrained by the desires of the enemy. We do not entertain thoughts he plants within our minds. We owe satan absolutely nothing.
Fear is one of the tactics of the enemy for sure- and it's the EXACT opposite of who God is. God is love. Fear seeks to freeze us and prevent us from moving forward into who God has destined us to be. Fear seeks to prevent us from reaching out to the person we may have hurt so that our relationship can be restored to the healthiness God designed it to have. Fear can completely be debilitating but it doesn't have to be!!!
Perfect love casts out fear.
One of my greatest fears was not speaking up, not communicating, not expressing who I was/am. This seriously puts a lot of pressure on a heart and it can be overwhelming, and when your heart starts to feel pain or even unnecessary pressure (there is good pressure)- really take your heart before the Lord. Seek accountability from people around you. One of the ways I started to push past the fear of speaking, communication and expression was by opening up to someone I trusted. A huge thing that helped was going into deeper intimacy with God and allowing Him to show me who I was as I pursued who He was. It's incredible how the further into God's heart you go that almost subconsciously you step into who you are! That was my experience. I didn't even realize I didn't know who I was but as I pressed into God and sought greater intimacy, I found who I was!
One of my most recent fears was to sing FULLY. I started to sing about 1.5 years ago, it's been a whirlwind of a journey. As I've been growing in confidence and pushing past certain comfort zones, insecurity was FLARING up. Ironic, I know. My friend is a professionally trained musician and he is one of the people who pushes me because he knows I'm capable of more than I give credit for. But I had a fear that was hindering my voice. I was afraid of sounding "bad" to the people around me and was completely forgetting that I sing to Jesus and unto Him! So in this case, the fear was broken off primarily by me surrendering to God- surrendering the desire to sound "pleasant" to the ears of those around me. The second thing that broke it off was stepping out and singing with all I had- straight to my Father's heart because I love Him. And guess what? Once I surrendered to God and locked eyes with Jesus, I hit the notes and vibrato that my friend was challenging me to sing- and I hit it with ease.
So I have a simple question for you:
May I encourage you to not face your fears alone? Seek the Lord in everything you do. Take advantage of the people God has placed around you. You aren't given more that you can handle, and beyond your fears lies life in it's fullest form.
Press into the Father and His presence. Seek to know Him and His heart. Do what you love, what brings you the greatest joy and what makes your heart come alive. I am convinced that the Lord has SO MUCH MORE for me and for YOU! Fear is intimidation but I promise when you face your fears, you will come out on the other side VICTORIOUS- not because of you or what you do, but because of Jesus and what He has done.
So face your fear. Be courageous. Walk forward in love and boldness. Don't be afraid or intimidated but remember who your God is and who you are. You are loved and with the strength of God- you are more than able! You also have a choice- focus on the fear or focus on God. Focus on the fear and you're not going to go too far, focus on God and you will go further than you could ever imagine!!
Remember that I'm here to support you. I'm desiring to pray for you and see you experience breakthrough. Be encouraged in the Lord. Reach out to me, leave comments please.
Many blessings to you!!! xx
Press into the Father and His presence. Seek to know Him and His heart. Do what you love, what brings you the greatest joy and what makes your heart come alive. I am convinced that the Lord has SO MUCH MORE for me and for YOU! Fear is intimidation but I promise when you face your fears, you will come out on the other side VICTORIOUS- not because of you or what you do, but because of Jesus and what He has done.
So face your fear. Be courageous. Walk forward in love and boldness. Don't be afraid or intimidated but remember who your God is and who you are. You are loved and with the strength of God- you are more than able! You also have a choice- focus on the fear or focus on God. Focus on the fear and you're not going to go too far, focus on God and you will go further than you could ever imagine!!
Remember that I'm here to support you. I'm desiring to pray for you and see you experience breakthrough. Be encouraged in the Lord. Reach out to me, leave comments please.
Many blessings to you!!! xx