The fear of man reduces us to a crazy fool. But the fear of the Lord exalts us to a confident warrior.
You see, fearing man is the tactic satan uses for you to fear him instead of God. And satan has no other mission in your life except to torment you, use you, chain you and parade you as a spectacle in his circus. But the fear of the Lord gives us great confidence so that victory, power and strength is our every day existence.
There is a difference between God using us and satan using us. God’s plans are to empower us; while satan’s plans are to puncture every good God can do through us. He aims to destroy, but God aims to build.
When the fear of man creeps up into your soul, demolish it with this praise, “I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” (Psalm 34:4). Assuredly, God will deliver. All we need to do is seek Him.
To seek the Lord is to frequent your relationship with Him in prayer, His word and worship.
- Seek Him intentionally.
- Seek with application.
- Seek for His love.
- Seek for His peace.
- Seek for His resolve and for His strength.
- Be specific in your seeking.
Randomly seeking the Lord may have some benefit as seeking Him is always a good thing, but seeking Him with intention produces a greater fruit in your life, especially when it comes to your fears.
My favorite way to seek the Lord besides prayer and His word is to worship. Worship is probably one of the greatest ways to scare the tactics of the devil away. I will put on my favorite worship song, close my eyes and let the perfect love of God wash completely over me, and the fear of man finds its way into the abyss. For perfect love casts out fear. The fear of God fills me with great optimism even in my most anxious days.
I want you to imagine this – picture it in your head. When you seek the Lord, His face turns and sets itself on you. He turns his head against the evil, but His face turns to those whose hearts are fully His. The wicked have no help but the righteous have all the power of the Creator on their side.
I say it again, His face sets (positions) itself on you. This is likened to Him answering our prayers. He turns to see us, to help us, and rescue us from all of our fears. To rescue us means to literally tear us away from the fears that entrap us. The enemy is still there but you are in the embrace of great power and strength. Literally, as you are snatched from your fears, the dust of those fears are smacked in the devil’s ugly face.
Fear is real, but so is great assurance. Satan is real, but so is Jesus! The difference, satan is a created being with limited power, but Jesus is the Creator with all the power. He even has power over satan. Therefore, if you want to be on top of the fears in your life, seek the One with all the power and let the created one with limited power find himself in his proper place – beneath the Lord and even beneath you. And remember this, While, “many troubles come to the one who is righteous, the Lord delivers him from them all.” (Psalm 34:19). Including our many fears!
Marcie Cramsey 