Every morning my husband Bill must record his weight, blood sugar, and blood pressure. The numbers indicate whether his medications are still working and if his kidneys, heart, and lungs are functioning at capacity. If the numbers go awry, he will head to the hospital again. Bill’s ongoing illness overflowed the levees that previously held back the normal anxieties I deal with. The past eight months have left me ragged. Joy is often in short supply because fear kills joy.
i hold tight to fear
Recently, I skimmed over Romans 8:14-17 without letting it ground me. The poisonous tendrils of fear choke the joy that God wants to take root in my heart. Instead, I look at Bill’s daily numbers and my heart returns to the darkness of Bill’s five hospital stays. I hold tight to fear.
But do I have to remain paralyzed? Untethered from Abba Father? Do I have a choice whether to remain a resident of the land of fear?
abba father!!
We are never assured of what the next day will bring or what the numbers will be. But God says, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom” we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” The Spirit himself bears witness with my spirit that I am a child of God, and if His child, then an heir—heir of God and a fellow heir with Christ. Regardless of the numbers, I can choose to relocate to the truth of God’s Word.
what can break the chains of fear?
What can break me free of the chains of fear? I seriously take up the double-edged sword of God’s Word and accept its power. Its strength alone cuts away at the thicket of fear that so easily encompasses me.
the battle
This is a huge battle for me. I take the words of the Apostle Paul. He knew a thing or two about fear. “Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for me, who can be against me?” (Romans 8:31)
Fear, get in my rear-view mirror! I’m breaking out of the land of fear.
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