Have you ever been afraid? Have you ever asked, “Where is God when I’m afraid?”
In one of her classic teachings, Marilyn Hickey explains that fear is a terrible thing. Satanic fear brings terror, anxiety, trembling, anger, horror, heaviness, makes you timid when you ought to be bold, oppresses you and frightens you. Satan rules through fear, while God rules through love. A quick definition of fear is that fear is faith in the devil.
Fear will come into your life because the enemy will come at you. Fear can be progressing and opens the door for the devil to move. Fear is Satan’s No. 1 weapon against you. In the book of Job, Job says, “the things that I fear comes upon me” (Job 3:25a, ESV). Job feared he would lose his possessions, his children, his marriage and his health. If you keep entertaining a fear, you open the door to the devil to take your possessions, children, marriage and body.
There is good fear and bad fear. Good fear is a respect and honoring of God; the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). The difference between good and bad fear is its focus. God doesn’t want you to be afraid, He wants the devil and his demons to be afraid of you. You’re the one who should be putting fear on people, circumstances and satanic forces. The devil should be afraid when you get out of bed in the morning.
If you don’t deal with fear, you’ll be doing things you don’t usually do, as Abraham did when he lied about Sarah being his sister (Gen. 20). He was afraid that Abimelek would kill him and take Sarah, but God spoke to Abimelek in a dream and he gave Sarah back and asked Abraham to pray for him. Abraham prayed, and God healed the women in Abimelek’s household. This illustrates that God doesn’t want us afraid of the devil; He wants the devil scared of us because the devil knows if we get hold of the Word, speak the Word and look the devil in the eye, God will move.
If you entertain fear in your mind, it can crush you. But God is bigger than your fears. You need to put your faith and confidence in Him, rehearse your victories and not get into fear.
You do not have to yield to fear in any way. Make a decision that instead of being afraid, you’ll trust God. Psalm 56:3 (NKJV) says, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” In faith, you surrender your will and trust God’s word. Get into your imagination and imagine good things instead of bad things. That’s how faith is birthed—it gets into the imagination too.
Remember, He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world. No matter your fear, God provides a way to overcome it. Don’t let fear overcome you!
Marilyn Hickey founded Marilyn Hickey Ministries more than 45 years ago with God’s vision to cover the earth with the Word. Marilyn co-hosts a daily television program, “Today with Marilyn & Sarah,” reaching a potential viewing audience of over 2 billion households worldwide. Marilyn communicates deep biblical truths in a way that is understandable and practical for everyday life.
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Sarah Bowling is on a mission to connect every one with the heart of God while loving those who are overlooked, excluded and ignored. Led by Holy Spirit and anchored in the Word, Sarah seeks to inspire all to know the unconditional and transformational love of God in our daily lives. A Bible teacher, author, international speaker and global humanitarian, Sarah also co-hosts a daily television program, “Today with Marilyn & Sarah.”