“He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge…” Psalm 91:4

My Fear—His Strength

Fear is a powerful tool of the enemy! But it can only be used in our life with our permission. Sometimes it creeps in when we allow our thought life to be overtaken by a case of the “what ifs,” and sometimes it arrives by way of a traumatic experience, either physically or emotionally.

Recently, I was hit with a one, two punch! Fear entered through a physically, life-altering experience and then attached itself to my thought life in an unexpected way. Fear had become a constant companion and I was unaware of its presence. It called itself concern, cautiousness, control, being careful, and the enemy even had the nerve to take these areas in my thought life, and then turn and point his finger at me and tell me how weak I was to give into these things.

Then I realized I wasn’t “concerned,” I was fearful. I wasn’t “cautious,” I was fearful. I wasn’t “taking control of the situation,” I was fearful. I wasn’t “being careful,” I was fearful. Fear was the enemy himself, and Satan wants nothing more than to distract us with one of his best tools—fear! After several failed attempts to muster up the strength to fight the enemy’s “you are weak” accusations, I gave it to Jesus.

My sin was thinking I could do it on my own, thinking I could replace fear with faith on my own. Thinking I could thwart the enemy’s attempts and lies. Thinking I could use my own strength to replace weakness. Operating in our own strength in any area of our life will leave us defeated every time.

What works? Calling on the name of Jesus! Fear must flee—in the name of Jesus. Lies must cease—in the name of Jesus! His strength is made perfect in my weakness—in the name of Jesus. So, I called on His name!

Do you know what Jesus did? He had a perfect stranger come to me in a foreign country and share with me a passage of scripture that HAPPENED to be the same one the Lord had given me years ago when I was in a fearful place—Psalm 91! How good is our God!

To encourage you, I end with the whole Psalm 91. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust. Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. ‘Because he has set His love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.’”

Lord, help me to make these truths my own. Amen.