Stopped Cold By Fear...

Scripture:
Psalm 27:1-3 (NASB)

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the defense of my life;
Whom shall I dread?
When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
Though a host encamp against me,
My heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me,
In spite of this I shall be confident.

Devotional:

One of Satan’s tactics is fear.  He will use fear to cripple us.  I remember when I was a teenager we had huge cottonwood trees growing in our back yard.  At the back of the yard was a tall chain link fence.  On the other of the fence was the back of a car dealership.  Along the fence across the length of the dealership were huge lights.  On dark winter nights those lights would shine through the trees casting shadows inside the house.  It didn’t take much for me to scare myself half to death.  I would not be able to go through the house unless all the lights were on.

Satan will try to prevent us from being effective through fear.  We might fear rejection by others.  Maybe it is the fear of failure.  No matter the reasons for fear if unchecked it will cripple us.  I knew if I turned on the lights I would be safe.  Christ is the light of the world.  In Him we have nothing to fear.  He lights up the way before us keeping us safe.  If our God is for us who can stand against us?  What is greater than God?  What can possibly overcome Him?  As FDR said in the thirties “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”  The reason we have nothing to fear is that Jesus has overcome everything.  As long as we are in Him nothing can overcome us.  Satan’s attacks cannot prevail unless we allow our fears to take control.  Jesus defeated Satan.  As long as He is before us we have nothing to fear.

So don’t let your fears cripple you.  I turned on the lights throughout the house to relieve my fears.  Let the Light of the world shine before you to relieve your fears.