Three Perspectives That Stir Up Fear...
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 2:21PM 
Happy Wednesday, Everyone! Susie Larson here!
And to those visiting, I say welcome! I post every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way. This month I’ll give away a $10.00 Starbucks gift card to someone who posts on my blog. So leave a post, share an insight, bless lots of people, and just maybe you'll win a jolt of java for you and a friend!
Now on to my topic...
I've recently come through a pretty tough battle. I won't say that I'm all the way to the other side, but I definitely have my feet under me once again. Praise God.
I've brushed myself off, straightened my shirt, and combed down my jacked hair. Now that I have my wits about me again, I can clearly identify three perspectives that gave the enemy permission and access to stir up my fears to the point where they eclipsed my faith. Perhaps they'll resonate with you as well.
Perspective #1 - Remembering Our Fears: The enemy knows all about our past fears. He knows what parts of those memories still serve as triggers for us today. All he has to do is to get us stirred up with a present reality that connects us to a past fear and he can spin us around so we won't know which way is up.
The answer?
Remembering God's Faithfulness: We remember and recall the many ways God has already come through for us. We pause to reflect on the countless times we worried for nothing because God held us close. We declare that God has been faithful and He'll be faithful again!
Psalm 143:5 ~ I remember the days long ago. I think about all You have done. I think about the work of Your hands.
Perspective #2 - Seeing Our Circumstances: The enemy wants us to fixate on our earthly circumstances to the point that we lose sight of our heavenly Father. He wants us so situation-aware that we forget that we have access to heaven. Of course we need to acknowledge our circumstances. But when we lock down our gaze on the things that worry us and stir up our fears, and we do so without considering the power and the promise of God to save and intervene, we give the enemy paved access to overtake our perspective. His goal is to convince us that we are at the mercy of our circumstances. Thank the Lord, He promises we’re never at the mercy of our circumstances.
The answer?
Seeing God AMIDST Our Circumstances: If we look for Him, He will be found by us! May the eyes of our heart open up so we can know the depths of His love, the riches of our inheritance, and the power available to us right here and right now. No circumstance can diminish who we are and what we possess. No scenario is beyond God's ability to redeem. May we see calvary mounting on our behalf. May we see that God in our midst is mighty to save!
Psalm 27:13-14 ~ I remain confident of this: I will SEE the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Perspective #3 - Envisioning Our Worst Case Scenario: This is exactly where we'll land if we embrace the first two perspectives. When we mull over past fears and stare long at present circumstances, the natural outcome will be to envision our worst-case scenarios. What then? We step into the enemy's trap and get turned upside down. Too much blood goes to our head and our emotions rule the day. And, we lose sight of God and miss a perfectly good opportunity to please Him with our feisty faith.
The answer?
Envisioning Our Future With Hope: Scripture tells us that God causes all things to work together for the good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). His plan is not to harm us but to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). God is able to do above and beyond all we could ever dare to ask or hope or dream (Ephesians 3:20)! So we must at least dare to ask and hope and dream, don't you think?
1 Peter 5:10 ~ So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.
So there you have it, three perspectives that stir up fear, and three perspectives that stir up faith. On what will you fix your gaze? On Whom will you put your trust? May we all look up and declare, If God is for us, who can stand against us? You're right. No one. Nothing. Not a thing.
We possess all in Christ. Thank you, Jesus.
~Until next week.
Reader Comments (9)
Love it! I'm blessed by this and am passing it on! My wise mother told me (about picturing worst case scenarios) "Don't go places in your mind that God hasn't given you the grace to walk through in reality." The enemy loves it when we get STUCK in our "what-ifs."
Thank you Susie!
Love,
Faith
In light of the results of yesterday's election results, I have seen (on Facebook) and heard a wide range of emotions, from elation to fear. The Lord put the following on my heart, which I posted as my status this morning. I pray that this gives someone peace from any fear that my be in their heart regarding the future of our great country. May you be blessed!
Whether you are jumping for joy or crying a lamentation, scared or proud, happy or disappointed, remember this: GOD is in control and He is sovereign! Trust Him, have faith in Him, rest in His peace. All is well.
"Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding."
Daniel 2:20-21 (ESV)
We don't have to accept Satan's offer of wrong thinking and these are powerful scriptures that you shared to help us defeat the enemy. I'll take God's good plan for my thinking any day!
This is just what I needed today. We have been battling health issues with my husband and we just found out today that the latest painful condition is something he is going to have to live with. They can't 'fix it'. The good thing is that at least now we know what the issue is. For the last several weeks with a series of testing they weren't able to determine the cause. But ultimately we know that God is control. We just need to keep trusting him and he'll provide.
The mob has chosen Barabas. The Israelites wanted a king. The foolish get what they asked for. The wise know their King is coming soon. If we don't enter a season of repentance, the hovering drape of judgement will surely fall.
Thank you Susie, and Ann, Faith, and Kathy- that was a powerful scripture from Daniel.
I woke up yesterday angry and disheartened but God blessed me so, helping me to readjust my bad attitude! He is from everylasting to everlasting and forver on the throne! We are foreigners and aliens here! This world will let us down but we belong to God and are citizens of Heaven!
Dear Susie and Readers,
Thank you for the reminders of God's mighty power at work in this world and our lives. We ARE more than conquerors in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because we are fighting from victory we can rejoice in every situation in our lives; every trial an opportunity to find God faithful and to grow in our faith in Him.
You have encouraged me.
Thank you,
Sally
I just found you last night watching you on James and Betty Robertson show. Went to your website today and boy is God good because your post hits home. I got up this morning bombarded with fear concerning a health issue with one of my children. Thank you for your words of encouragement. One thing that God reminded me was to look into the future and see the situation resolved instead of seeing the worst, see the answer......see my son giving his testimony of how God healed him and see our family giving God the praise for the healing. So that is what I did to combat fear today!
Thank you so much Susie.
I also found you on James Robinson show, I am so thankful that God woke me up @ 5:00 am that
morning to hear your words!!! I am walking in FAITH AND NOT FEAR!!!!
I LOVE YOU!! Thank you!