fear

Are we living in a crazy time or what? Just a few weeks ago it was normal days with normal routines and now we find ourselves under a mandated quarantine order where everything we used to know has been basically turned upside down (or outside in). I don’t know about you, but I can honestly say I never imagined something like this would happen in my lifetime.

Every day we are bombarded with images, stories, and news reports of depressing things happening among us and projections of things possibly to come. Every day, I watch people I love and people I don’t even know be crippled by the fear of these circumstances and the unknown. People living and experiencing full-blown, debilitating anxiety. Every day I see people struggling with their health, their finances, their essential job titles, and with not being able to see and spend time with loved ones when they need it the most. The list goes on and on and on.

I have my own moments. I’m a nurse in a hospital setting, so I can closely relate to the stress of the term “frontlines.” It’s real. It’s hard. Sometimes I find myself worried about my co-workers. Worried for their safety. Worried over their mental states as well as their physical condition. But you know what? I have chosen to put my faith over my fears and my worries. I’m sure you’ve seen that phrase thrown out a lot lately—faith over fear. There are honestly a lot of people who don’t quite understand not only what it means, but what it actually looks like and how to live it out.

I believe in Jesus. I believe He’s real. I believe exactly what the Bible says in Romans 10:9–10: “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”

And it’s because I choose to believe in Him that I also believe everything else that’s in the Bible, including how to navigate all areas of my life, even stress, worry, and anxiety.

So when I say I’m choosing faith over fear, I’m saying I’m choosing the Word of God over the scary things that are taking place all around me.

Now that I am a child of God, I have privileges, and I’m an heir to all His promises in the Bible. Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand.” I’m told here in this verse not to fear because God will help me and hold tight to me. What that looks like is this: when those moments of fear and worry do creep in (because they do!), I pray to God and thank Him for strengthening me and helping me. I thank Him for holding me tight within His hands. I’m choosing in that moment of fear and worry not to stay there, but rather turn it all over to God. It’s a choice I make. Isaiah 54:17 says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” We have a pretty large weapon that has been formed against us right now, wouldn’t you agree? But even with this, I pray and I confess with my mouth the Word of God—even though this weapon has been formed, it will not prosper! Period! (And exclamation point!) It won’t prosper within me. It won’t prosper within my family or within my home. End of story. I choose to make this declaration and I believe it with all my heart. I choose to believe God’s version versus the world’s version or the news’ version.

Psalm 50:15 says, “Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you.” This is certainly a time where I’ve had to call on His name and say simply, “Jesus help!!!.” Sometimes I just haven’t known what else to say. Can you relate? Can you recall a time recently where you just flat-out didn’t know what to do or say? The Bible tells us in 2 Chronicles 20:12, “We don’t know what to do but our eyes are fixed on you.” My eyes are solely fixed on Jesus. They are not fixed on what is happening all around me. I cannot allow myself to focus on those things. If I did, it would surely drive me crazy. I choose to fix my eyes on Him.

In 2 Timothy 1:7, it says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” We don’t have to live in fear, friends. The Word clearly tells us that He gave us a sound mind, not fear. When you break down the true meaning behind the words “sound mind,” it means a mind that has been delivered, rescued, revived, protected, and is now safe and secure. So if you find yourself meditating on fear and worry, make a choice to trade that in for what the Word of God is saying to you. Trade that in for a sound mind and allow God’s Word to work on the inside of you to deliver, rescue, revive, and protect your mind.

I’m personally so thankful for my relationship with Jesus. I’m so thankful for His Word, the Bible. I can honestly tell you that throughout this time we are in, I am able to rest well. I am able to laugh, play, smile, and be at perfect peace. I am able to enjoy this time. Am I just being oblivious to what’s going on around me? Am I being oblivious to all of the medical facts surfacing daily? Absolutely not! I have much respect for the facts coming forth and I abide by those facts and I follow the guidelines set before me, but I also choose to turn it all over to God as well. I choose to trade the chaos for a life of peace. Philippians 4:6–7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Notice how in those verses it says to present your requests to God. Here’s what that looks like for me. There are times when I have one or a few things swirling around in my head that are causing me to worry, be afraid, or be anxious. Instead of allowing those to occupy my mind, I’ll take a few minutes to write those thoughts down. Whether it be on a piece of paper or maybe just in the Notes section of my phone. I’ll take those thoughts I write down or those concerns I have and I’ll place them in front of me and then I’ll begin to pray. As I pray, I’ll call out each one of those items and then I will hand them over to God and release them to Him. If you keep reading in those verses above, it says that if we do that, if we will present our requests to God, if we will turn those over to Him, THEN the peace of God will come. One translation in the Bible says “And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].” Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You.” That’s the peace I have. Perfect peace. That is the same peace you can have too. It’s so readily available to you. But you have to make that choice. You have to decide to choose Jesus. You have to decide that enough is enough. The life of worry and anxiety is just too much. You have to decide that you are ready for a change. You have to decide that you are ready to truly turn your life over to the One who can calm your fears, give you a hope, give you a future, and give you a peace that goes far beyond your wildest comprehension.

If that’s you, if you are ready to make that choice, today is your day! Today is the day to choose life. Today is the day to choose Him once and for all. Today is the day to make the best decision you will ever make in your whole entire life.

Psalm 86:5 says, “You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call on you.” Jesus is forgiving. Jesus is good. Jesus has nothing but love and peace to give to you if you will just call upon His name. It doesn’t matter what you have done today, in your past, or what you are known for. It doesn’t matter what others think of you. It doesn’t matter if you think you are too far gone. You are never too far gone for Him. He loved you enough even in the middle of your worst moments to send His Son to die for you and make you whole again, make you free from all of the pressures this world has to offer, and free from all of the things that torment you. Won’t you choose to make this day your day? The day you decide that you will put Jesus over everything else. If that’s you, and you would like to call upon the name of Jesus and make Him Lord over your life for the very first time, or maybe you have before, but you’ve fallen by the wayside, turned your back on Him, and returned to your former ways and you’d like to renew that relationship with Him, then I’d like you to read this prayer aloud:

“Dear Lord, please forgive me of all my sins. Please forgive me for turning my back on You. I believe in you. I believe You sent Your son Jesus to die just for me. I believe He died but rose again to give me eternal life and a life of freedom. I am ready to accept You and make You Lord over my life. Lord, I give my life to You. I cast all my worries, my fears, and my anxieties over to You, and I thank You, Lord, for Your peace that washes over me. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

I read this quote a while back and it has really stuck with me, “The one you listen to is the one you belong to.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to belong to fear. I want to belong to Jesus. He is the light, He is the truth, and He is the only way.

If you prayed this prayer today, please consider sending me a message to let me know because I’d love to pray with you and to just be excited and celebrate with you and also to just give you some next steps of where to go from here after giving your life to Jesus!

Have you ever just been wrecked with fear? Have you ever had something happen or come up in your life that literally shook you to your core?

This happened to me recently. Looking back, I’m astonished the fear came in so easily. I’m the girl who daily fills herself up with God’s Word and His truths and makes it a practice to fight off the enemy and his low blows and attacks.

But not this day.

I learned of something absolutely terrifying that happened in my daughter’s school that potentially put her too close to danger, in my opinion. If that wasn’t bad enough, what she told me followed a major scare that took place in our nation. I instantly became frozen and stiff with fear and worry. My shoulders started burning, which is how anxiety typically manifests in my body. I mean, they were on fire and the burning sensation was not letting up.

After that, I was on a mission. I began chit chatting with other moms. I started making phone calls and sending emails because I wanted to make sure I’d done everything humanly possible to protect my daughter.

But before I knew it, the next day had come and I sensed the fear and anxiety now rolling over onto my other two daughters, who are still young and not in school yet. My mind began to run completely wild. It was going places it should never be going.

That night when I went to bed, I had a full blown nighmare that something horrible happened to one of my girls. I remember waking up with the sickest feeling in my stomach. As my day continued I would periodically have visions pass through my head of more bad things happening to my children.

Later that afternoon, my husband and I were in the car driving. We were headed to a cell phone store to ensure that my oldest daughter had what she needed so I could continually feel connected to her, especially in times of an emergency. On the ride over, things weren’t going exactly the way I wanted and, in an instant, I found myself snapping at my husband. Like, crazy-town snapping. I was elevating my voice, lashing out, and making false accusations towards him. (I’m sure someone can relate with this!)

Right after I snapped, I immediately thought What in the world just happened?

I was really taken aback because this is not normal behavior between my husband and I. We don’t argue. I don’t snap at him. I don’t lash out at him. I don’t say negative things to him. He’s my best friend and my most favorite human to be around. So what in the world just happened?

I was still angry in a sense, at the situation and at myself. In that moment I began to sing a worship song to the Lord in my head. About two minutes into the song, I slowly felt my spirit calm down. I looked over at Jeff and told him I was sorry.

That night, the Lord really spoke to my spirit. He took me to Philipians 4:6–7 (NLT) which says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

I felt instant relief. Just like that. His words washed over me and I literally felt this heavy blanket of peace laying on my whole body.

Man, why did this have to take three days before I got my act together and dug into my source? My Source of life! Through these verses the Lord was telling me, “Kelli, first of all, don’t worry, pray! Tell me what you need. Thank ME for the things I am doing in your life. Thank Me for the protection I am providing to you, your family, and your precious daughters. THEN, you will experience My peace.”

It was in that moment I resolved to be totally vigilant the next time any fear, worry, or anxiety tried to take hold of me. I resolved to be alert! I resolved to be on the lookout!

The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 (NLT), “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

I see you devil. I’m watching out for you and you are not going to devour this Jesus girl.

Are you fighting fear, worry, or anxiety about something today? Are you sitting there reading this crippled by fear of something? Friend, I am here to tell you to follow the instructions of the Lord. Stop the worry. Pray to Him and tell Him exactly what it is you need. Thank Him for doing it. And then—then—experience His peace that surpasses all understanding. We can be free from fear. We can be free from worry. We can be free from anxiety. Just roll it all over onto Him.

Let’s pray:

“Lord, I thank You for Your Word. I thank You that in You I am free from all of my fears, worry, and anxiety. I thank You Lord that You are working on my behalf. I thank You that You hear and care about my concerns. I thank You for sending Your peace to continually guard my heart. I love you! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

Tag: fear

Today is your day!

No more fear! No more worry!