Is freedom from fear even possible?

I’m not sure that we can truly stop feeling afraid in certain situations, but I know that fear doesn’t get to have the center stage in our life. The Word says absolute love casts out fear. So, can we live in a state of absolute love all the time?

^{1 John 4:17-19
17}  Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. ¹⁹ We love^[a] because he first loved us.

Love is the solution to so many problems it seems, and fear may be its antithesis. Fear may be the root of most sins: For example, we cheat because we are afraid of failure, we’re jealous because we’re afraid that we’re not good enough, we steal because we don’t think we’ll be provided for… The list is endless, but not conclusive because I’m not sure we lust out of fear. Regardless, fear is a problem worth addressing so that sin doesn’t get to control our lives.

Romans 6:16
Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Being a Slave to Fear

We all have our fears, and we all have reasons for them. Many fears can be dismissed, merely indicators of a threat. However, some fears overwhelm us and act as our oppressor. Is fear a spirit?

2 Tim 1:6-8

6Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

This blog post is the story of how fear became my lifestyle that I couldn’t control, and how I now live a mostly fearless life, that you can live too!

Many experience panic attacks and need medicine to deal with their anxiety. The US is leading on the anxiety front.

Covid and the lockdowns didn’t help with our fear problem, as the media aggressively pushed fear. They left us to feel like we’d die… death was impending, and we were all at risk. Media provokes our fear crisis, and great discernment is needed when consuming content. Both sides of the coin: Conspiracy or Mainstream, fear is its foundation.

Our fear crisis is one that I’ve known all too well, so I didn’t bite media’s bait. I’ve lived with the relapsing MS diagnosis since 2002, a disease ready to pounce at any moment. Fear is all too familiar.

I used to say I have a PhD in fear, because fear felt like kin, not friendly kin, but the obnoxious kin that sticks around when they’re not welcome. Fear is never welcome, but I couldn’t wish it away. Fear would consume me in my twenties and thirties. Thoughts of “What’s going to happen, I’ll never fulfill dreams, I’ll never marry, this disease marks me, I’ll lose friends who don’t want my brokenness… were common thoughts that discouraged me. They were tormenting thoughts.

Tormenting thoughts come from trauma and MS was a constant trauma for me. I used to say “MS is like having someone in your house (my body) and they are going to attack you any moment.”  Rushing to the doctors I got their solution of anti-anxiety meds that cover up the problem, but never solve it. Sleepless nights were the norm. Having to slow down and take deep breaths allowed me to avoid a panic attack. I would swing into panic, at the sign of MS episode symptoms. When I wasn’t experiencing symptoms, I was plagued with negative hopeless thoughts that pointed to my loss of dreams and destiny, all because of the disease.

That fear cycle from panic to hopelessness is a cycle God had to break with His supernatural power. I had to have a serious encounter to really recover my sound-mind, and that’s just what He did.

I was sitting on a bus arguing with God about whether He is good. When I took my fear issues to the church for prayer and help, I’d be counseled that “God has a plan” and that “He will use this disease.” So, I sat on the bus arguing that He is an evil God if He is behind MS, and I want nothing to do with Him. I was distraught. The church painted a picture of a God who willed disease on people, so I thought, “MS is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, then He is an evil God.” I remember getting off the bus at my stop, where I’d walk two mores blocks to my destination. It felt like the world was spinning, thinking, “If I can’t trust Jesus, then there’s nowhere to turn.”

I can only describe my fight with God as Jacob’s wrestling with the man in Genesis 32:22-31. Where Jacob tells the man “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” That was my stance: “God, I’m in hell and you have to bless me.”

Then as I walked and argued with God having to be a good God and I wouldn’t let Him go, a truck parked on the street with words was supernaturally highlighted. The words read “Consider it done.” At the moment of reading the words, the teaching of the cross flooded my mind. Jesus’s words on the cross were “It is finished.” And the words on the truck were basically the same. In a blink I realized that MS was put on the cross and the bible is true that says in 1 Peter 2:24 By His striped you were healed.

From that moment forward I put a post-it note under my computer that read “Consider it Done.” When the tormenting thoughts came, I would remember God’s word.

God’s Hand to Save

My story of God stepping into my despair and need to rescue me, is a story repeated throughout history, (and a story repeated in my life). The bible displays God’s willingness to deliver us from slavery in Exodus, delivering the Israelites from Egypt. Then again and again, all the way to Jesus who delivers us from our bondage by accomplishing what was impossible due to our sin nature (Romans 8).

It is impossible to read the bible and not recognize God’s nature, even name: Jehovah Rapha, is healing. When I had my God encounter of “Consider it Done,” my circumstances hadn’t changed. I still had the diagnosis. I just gained confidence in the character of God, who is on my side.

Beautiful Holy Spirit encounters us and comforts us in supernatural and soothing ways, which remind us that we’re not alone and God is on the throne. Circumstances and symptoms boast of their power, but they are weak compared to the healing power of Jesus.

God’s heart is for your healing and fullness of life.

John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Faith Overcomes All

No matter the struggle in your life, never give up. If you view your struggle like Jacob, who will not let the man go without a blessing. He was not only blessed, but received a new name:

Genesis 32:28
Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

Perhaps God is giving you a new name, while you declare and cling to His truth: Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

I would meditate on the scriptures during my hardest trials with fear. I would also declare healing and ask for prayer from believers who agreed in God’s healing power. Don’t struggle alone, because that’s a recipe for isolation and sadness. God wants us to heal together.

James 5:14
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

My pursuit for wholeness resulted in a deeper connection to God. It resulted in steadfast faith that no matter what comes, God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Reality may suggest brokenness, but truth is healing.

Fear can be healed. Disease too. May God’s truth manifest, and may Thy Kingdom Come.