FEARLESS

FEARLESS

What is fear? Is it simply a response you have to a scary movie or a giant spider crawling across the floor in your room? Fear defined by a simple google search: “An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.” 

Often, it seems we find ourselves contemplating what will be the outcome of our lives. Will I be successful? Will I be a good parent? Will I ever attain the body I desire? Will I ever finish that project I want to accomplish? Will I ever be good enough? On the surface, those questions may seem to be innocent, meaningful, even constructive. However, what we may be actually asking is, “Can I truly confront my fears and accomplish those things? Am I actually worthy of those good things?”

“‘According to a study published in 2017 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, (PDF) there’s some expert disagreement when it comes to the exact brain circuits involved in fear. But much of the existing research suggests that the brain’s limbic system, and specifically the amygdala, are highly involved when a person experiences fear. Many of these same areas are also active during periods of anxiety.’

‘When you look at the brain networks that are more active in fear and anxiety, they very highly overlap,’ Javanbakht says.

‘But the level of activity could be different,’ he says. Typically, anxiety would produce a milder response than fear.

Both emotions are forms of stress, and both activate the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which leads to the release of stress hormones into the bloodstream, most notably cortisol. The sympathetic nervous system also kicks into high gear, activating the ‘fight, flight, or freeze’ response through the release of adrenaline (epinephrine), research has shown.

When we feel fear, these internal responses make us more likely to fight, freeze, or flee — whatever can help neutralize the source of their fear, Dr. Bolshakov says.

Some research has linked chronic stress, including stress caused by fear, to pain disorders and autoimmune conditions such as arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.

There may also be psychological consequences. ‘We’re starting to regard specific phobia as a gateway disorder,’ Davis says. ‘So as time passes, phobias sometimes morph into more internalizing problems like anxiety and depression.’”

               As you can see from the excerpt above, fear is not just a reaction, but a deep cerebral response to danger or perceived danger. If you are taking a stroll in the woods and see a bear, fear will begin to prepare your body for an adequate response. In this case, fear is useful and possibly lifesaving. However, if every time you go for a walk in a remotely wooded area and your body and mind is on high alert thinking a bear is going to jump out at you and attack, you are creating fear even though there may be nothing to fear. My point is that fear within proper context is good but fear that is fueled by the idea that something bad will happen before it has happened can be toxic in every sense of the term.

Here is what the bible says about this topic: “…God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So, we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.” (1 John 4:16-18 NLT)

Notice at the end of this verse it says, “If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.” (1 John 4:18 NLT).

Fear, when prevalent in your life and regardless of its many faces (rejection, abandonment, lack, death etc.…), is a symptom of the fact that you don’t know God as much as you thought you did. If you read my previous blog ‘Distorted Reality’, you will remember that Job had to repent though he was considered a good man. Why did he have to repent? Because he walked with God in fear of loosing what he could control. God permitted him to be stripped so that he could see that in and through God all things are and will be and that the only appropriate response is repentance of the fact that he had only heard of God but didn’t know Him.

It is possible for us to have bible verses memorized, go to church, have a prayer life, even preach about Jesus and still have no confidence in Him? Confidence demonstrates the reality of what you say you believe. Don’t get me wrong, the flesh doesn’t make it easy. It constantly demands attention, whether physical, emotional, or biological. You will have moments where it is more difficult to have confidence in Jesus. However, your free will is far stronger than the needs of the flesh, not to mention the Spirit of God in you. That is of course, if the Spirit of God is in you. Nonetheless, you can override your flesh and submit it to God by rejecting its constant demands. It’s easier said than done, but the more you reject the desire to turn from God, the easier it gets. Do not put your confidence in your acts of piety but turn to the Lord daily with an offering of your life. Watch Him break your body, spirit, and soul of all fear. Watch Him use you to reach people and places you never thought you would experience in your lifetime.

True confidence in God will be demonstrated in a fearless life ready to be used for the kingdom of God, boldly proclaiming the gospel of liberty. Declare that Jesus Christ died for the sins of man and was raised on the third day, liberating all creation from the grips of death and hell. Make a declaration today before all creation and God; That you will no longer let fear keep you from victory, you will trust Jesus and not look back, and you will, in exhilarated expectation, wait for Jesus to call you to serve Him. Upon the calling, like a fearless WARRIOR ready for war, you will jump into the battlefield and wield the sword of faith (the sword of the Spirit) and cut down the work of satan and all the fallen angels who turned from God and turned to their own lust and who attempt to deceive the nations with false ideas and gods. You will be a light on a hill, proclaiming with your life in word and action, that Jesus Christ is “…the Way, the Truth, and the Life” John 14:6.

Ignite the Spark,

Elijah X

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but [b]divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NASB